Rising With The Breaking Dawn
by fleeting . white . feathers
Summary: Gen. SI. She died too early and was born too late. Her existence is a curse, a pebble in a tranquil lake. There is no turning back. There is only forward, to an uncertain tomorrow.
1. I

Silence. The sound of the emptiness left, of the time after the struggle when all is lost except the hope for the future. Silence, broken only by the sound of the wind, and the wails of a child.

Two bodies lay dying in the grass.

Red pooled around his feet. Sarutobi looked down at the young family, the hope and promise that had been snuffed out like a candle in a single night… just like all the other hopes crushed this sad, tragic night.

A blonde head turned to look at him. "Sarutobi-san…" he rasped. Minato's eyes, known for their brightness and cheer, were now dulled, a dark ocean set in a pale face.

"Don't speak." Immediately the old man knelt down at his successor's side. "The medics are coming. They will take c-" A bloody, shaking hand on his made him stop. Minato smiled, a sad echo of the smile that had endeared him to any who saw it.

"Shinigami… too late…" A hoarse laugh escaped his lips, making him cringe in pain. "Kyuubi… sealed it… please… take care of… them…"

Sarutobi bowed his head. _A shinobi must never show their tears._ "I will," he promised, covering the hand with his own.

"My children will be heralded as heroes." The Fourth Hokage said. A command, not a request. _His very last._ The irony did not strike the Sandaime as funny. "Especially…" He coughed, suddenly, without warning, blood spurting out of his guts and his lips. Sarutobi did not look away. He owed him at least that.

"I'll take care of them," he promised once again, unable to keep a note of sadness out of his voice.

Minato smiled, one, last, grateful smile. His gaze turned towards the wailing child by his side… and the wide eyed babe beside it.

"_Take care of your sister… Naruto…"_

* * *

They call them the Demon Twins.

When the moon closes its eye and the stars disappear from the sky, and the people hunker down in their homes, they speak of them. Wayward children are hushed with the tales of the Kyuubi, how, with its last dregs of power, cursed Konoha as it breathed its final breath. Adults spoke with fear, wondering if the Kyuubi the Yondaime had given his life to seal away… wasn't as gone as the Sandaime had assured them it was.

No one knew where the rumor came from, but someone finally confirmed a sighting. On the third anniversary of the Kyuubi's death, of the victory of the Yondaime and the deaths of many others, someone saw them – two cursed children, running through the streets, eyes wide and heads turning, as they looked upon the colorful festivities.

One was the very image of the late Yondaime, still remembered with regret and honest fondest by most of the villagers. It was like their Hokage had been reborn, with its spiky blond hair and round blue eyes. At first he inspired wonder, then awe, and not terror.

It was his companion that sent fear into the people's bones.

It was the start of a riot. People screamed, in terror or fury. Several swore vengeance, moving against the Kyuubi incarnate with bat, bottle and broom. That's when the shinobi moved in. More people cried out in fear, as the dreaded masked ANBU appeared at the monsters' side. Many would remember that night as a night of pain and horror, cradling their arms as the ghost of broken bones twinged at the memory.

The next day, the Sandaime addressed his people. He spoke of the Yondaime, and honor, and the wish of a man for a pair of orphan children to be treated as heroes. But it was too late. No one heard his words, barely took note of the law passed unto them that very same day. All eyes were on the children, standing on either side of their esteemed Hokage. Hatred fostered in every heart that set eyes on the cursed spawn of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The blond one clung to the Hokage, staring wide eyed at the crowd before him. All felt hatred at the Kyuubi's mockery of their hero.

The Hokage spoke of a seal.

The people saw a child.

The Hokage rested a hand on the shoulder of the one on his other side. It looked up, and peered at the crowd with a gaze that froze all who stood before it.

Her hair hung around her face like a veil of blood. Her blue eyes were rimmed with ink black marking, stretching from the corners of her eyes and reaching for her temples.

It was the face of the Kyuubi reborn.

* * *

"How are they?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.

The ANBU agent stood to attention. His porcelain mask identified him as Uma- Horse. "The children are resting in the waiting room downstairs, Hokage-sama. Inu, Tora, and Kuma are guarding them at the moment." The Hokage gave a nod of approval. Hound, Tiger and Bear were shinobi he knew well, and could trust with the children.

"Continue."

"Naruto-san has been very... impatient." Impatient was an understatement, but the shinobi didn't think he could say "The kid's practically bouncing off the walls" to his superior. "He has not ceased asking questions since he entered the room. His sister has answered a few, but mostly stares out the window. She has shown no outward emotions since the announcement was made."

"Thank you, Uma. Please have Inu bring them here." Horse bowed - a sign of trust, baring his neck to his superior - and shunshinned away.

The Hokage sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He hadn't intended to announce the existence of the Kyuubi in a jinchuuriki so early. His original plan was to keep the children a secret, until the Kyuubi was more of a memory than fresh history.

He doubted most of the civilians he had addressed earlier had understood – or even listened – to his explanation of the sealing. The wounds from four years ago were still fresh… and the twins' existence the salt that returned the pain anew.

A flare of chakra alerted him to approaching ninja. Wind whipped through the room as first Hound, then Tiger arrived, carrying a child each. Bear did not appear, though Sarutobi sensed him take position on the roof of the building.

"Oh _yeah_! That was _so cool, _dattebayo! Again, again, again, again!" Naruto yelled in glee from Hound's shoulders, tugging on the poor man's wild hair like reins. Sarutobi hid a smile behind one hand. It seems that, while Hound was adamant about avoiding his teacher's children as much as he could, he still could not resist Naruto's enthusiasm and boyish charm.

Compared to her brother, Minako looked quite pale as Tiger slowly set her down. "Thank you." Her voice was soft and a little shaky, but clear. Tiger gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, the closest and ANBU could give as a "you're welcome".

Sarutobi studied the girl over his folded hands. Her pale state only served to emphasize the dark markings around her eyes, miniature versions of the black lines that extended from the Kyuubi's snout into its ears. Combined with the flaming red hair she had inherited from her mother, it was no wonder the crowd had panicked at the sight of the child.

"Naruto," he finally spoke. "Please stop pulling Inu-san's hair. I don't think he appreciates it very much."

"But! It's so spiky, dattebayo! It's weird! It gets up even when I squish it!" The boy demonstrated, patting Hound's hair. True to form, it sprung back into position the moment his fingers left the strands. Once again, Sarutobi had to hide a smile behind a hand at Hound's obvious discomfort. Certainly Tiger and Bear were having the struggle of their lives hiding their amusement at their comrade's predicament.

"Naruto, that's enough." Minako said evenly, craning her neck to look up at her brother. He pouted, but obeyed. Hound reached up and grabbed him by the torso, finally setting him down beside his sister. Without hesitating, she grabbed Naruto by his own spiky hair and pulled, hard enough to bring tears to his eyes.

"Owowowow! Min'ko-chan, that huuurts-ttebayo!" the child wailed, grabbing his sister's arm and hopping in an effort to alleviate the pain.

She twitched. "First of all, it's _Minako. _Second, this is what you've been doing to Inu-san all morning. Now go and apologize."

Naruto pouted. Minako glared back. It was, quite frankly, _adorable_. Sarutobi could no longer hide his smile as Naruto apologized sullenly to Hound, who could only nod in reply.

Minako had always shown a surprising level of maturity for a three year old. Where Naruto was loud, she was quiet. Where Naruto was rude, she was polite and diplomatic. Where Naruto was wild, she was restrai-

"_I'm not a killjoy, dattebana!" _said girl shrieked, stamping her foot loudly on the wooden floor of the office. She blushed immediately at her loss of control and glared at her brother. He stuck out his tongue in reply.

The Hokage winced. Or maybe he was thinking too much.

"That's enough fighting you two." He scolded. The children jumped to attention, two pairs of bright blue eyes trained right at him as they each muttered their own apologies. He gave the ANBU a nod. They bowed, and disappeared in a 'poof' of chakra smoke.

He scrutinized the children as Naruto gave his customary yells of awe while his sister covered her face in exasperation. The medics had said they hadn't gotten even a scratch in their ordeal, but… "Are you two alright?" he asked. Twin sets of blue returned to him once more. With more age and knowledge behind them, those two would make an intimidating stare.

"We're okay, thank you…" Minako replied slowly. Her eyes were clear of any visible emotion, but sharp with intelligence. Her exotic facial markings only served to emphasize her eyes, turning her blank gaze into something more… intent.

"Are you sure?" Such ordeals left more than physical wounds. The twins nodded in unison, though Naruto's was more subdued. His sunny outlook had suddenly clouded with indecision. Sarutobi focused his attention on the boy. "Is there something wrong, Naruto?"

"Ne, jiji…" Naruto blurted. Minako quickly jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Naruto, manners!" she hissed. "You can't just address the Hokage with a, 'Hey, Grandpa'!" Her brother's face fell.

"It's alright, Minako," Sarutobi quickly intervened. "I don't mind." _Very much. _Ah well. Tsunade would say it would keep him humble.

He was rewarded with Naruto's delighted look in his direction, before the kid shot another raspberry at his sister. She rolled her eyes.

He had a feeling he was going to regret making that statement in the future. "Anyway, you were saying, Naruto?"

"Um…" the boy mumbled, tugging on the hem of his shirt nervously. "Why… why did the people try to hit us?" he asked, with all the wide-eyed innocence of a three year old.

Sarutobi sighed. He'd been waiting for that question. "It's not something I can explain right now, Naruto. You'll understand when you're older."

"Does it have something to do with the Kyuubi?" His gaze snapped faster than lightning to the quiet sister. She stared back, face carefully blank, blue eyes cold and sharp. Now that expression was familiar. Sarutobi pushed back the nostalgia of blue eyes narrowed in determination and framed with golden hair.

"And what makes you think that, Minako?" he asked calmly, letting no sign of his surprise rise to the surface. Her hands began to fumble with each other. She bit her lip as she thought over her answer. But her eyes never strayed from their intense look at his face.

"Well… it was the anniversary of the Kyuubi attack yesterday, right? So I thought…" Here she trailed off, color rising to her cheeks once more.

Funny. Most people spoke of that day as the day of the Yondaime's heroic death, not of the Kyuubi's attack.

"I see." He paused, glancing over the two children once more. So young and already causing an uproar. Inheritors of the legacies of two great shinobi… one of the twins a container of the strongest bijuu in the world… "Like I said, you'll understand when you're older."

"B-b- _That's not an explanation, dattebayo_!" Naruto yelled in outrage.

"It's all you're going to get." He silenced the blond's next protest with a glare. "Be patient. You want to be a shinobi, right, Naruto?"

The boy's expression immediately brightened. "Yeah! I'm gonna be a ninja, just like Inu-san, dattebayo!" The kid was like a sunflower – turning this way and that, changing moods in a flip of a coin, but always turning back to the sun the moment he was able.

"Well here's your first lesson. A true shinobi knows how to be patient. Your prey will not appear to you if you run around noisily because of your inability to wait."

"So… the expl- eekksplinayshun… is my prey?" Naruto squinted slightly as he tried to understand.

Sarutobi took pity on him. "I suppose… yes, you could say that."

"Then I'll definitely wait! I'll become the best ninja ever, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned, smacking his chest for emphasis. Then his face fell. "But I hate waiting-ttebayo!" he cried out in distress.

"Well then," Sarutobi smiled. "Now's a better time to start than any, right?"

The boy grumbled and pouted. His sister sighed. "So dramatic…" she murmured.

The Hokage straightened, nodding at the both of them. "If that's all, it's far time for you two to head back to the orphanage." Both children groaned. He shoved away the warmth building in his old heart at the sound.

"Can I ride on Inu-san again?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Sarutobi thought about it. He felt like he'd already asked too much of Kakashi. The boy had lost so much… it was no wonder he had no desire to see his sensei's children. To be forced to interact with them like today… "I'm afraid not, Naruto. That'll be enough riding for now. You can wait for Minoru-san at the lobby."

"Aww…" The child sighed in disappointment.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Minako bowed, before tugging on Naruto to do the same.

"Please, Minako. Sarutobi-san is fine." He smiled benignly at the polite child.

"Then…" A mischievous light entered her eyes. "Thank you very much… Sarutobi-jiji."

He winced. Ah, so it looks like the impish behavior was not restricted to just one twin. "Go on, get." He sighed tiredly and flapped his hands at the two to leave. They giggled, darting out the door to wreak havoc in someone else's life.

As the door swung shut, so did the grandfatherly expression on Sarutobi's face. He twined his fingers together, eyes lit with the spark that had led to him being granted his title as 'Professor'.

That intelligent, calculating light in Minako's eyes… and if Naruto's rambunctiousness was any indication…

He lit his pipe and brought it to his lips. _Will the children someday surpass the legends that were their parents?_

_I wonder._

* * *

A/N:

_shitshitshitwhywhywhydidIstartanotherstorywhywhywhy_

An explanation for the series: I wrote this several months ago and it's been sitting in my computer for ages. I've decided to publish this because I don't really want to waste my work, and I like the idea and wonder if others would do the same. Take note that I only have two chapters written down and updates will probably be slow as heck. I have no idea where this is going to go, but let's wing it, ne? We might get to go somewhere good.

For my notes on this chapter: I've always wondered how a man as intelligent and esteemed as the Professor, Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, would sentence the child he was supposed to be taking care of to a life of rejection by announcing to the world, oh hey, here's a baby that contains the monster that just killed all your loved ones. My theories for the original Naruto's situation shall remain buried, but for this situation, I figured with Minako's facial features and Naruto's resemblance to his father there was no way they could stay secret for long. If you're wondering how they managed to escape their guardians at the tender age of four… well, it _is _Naruto we're talking about here. Plus Minako. Who's an adult. Mentally. Those poor guardians didn't stand a chance.

One last note: I researched all the possible Japanese suffixes that put emphasis on the sentence that comes before it (ex. -yo, -ne, though -ne has a different connotation). -na is the one I found most acceptable, which indicates a "casual emphasis on a decision, suggestion, or opinion". Men can also use it as a very emphatic "Don't do this!". (thank you, japanese about dot com). Hence, we get Minako's customized _dattebana._


	2. II

**I open my eyes.**

_The sky is a bright blue, the color of stress, of hope and happiness, and the nearness of summer. People are yelling, I think, but I can't be sure. A part of me whispers that I should feel pain, that I do feel pain, but I feel nothing, not a thing, not anymore._

_Someone bends over me… it's you. Dark eyes on a pale face. I can finally read them, the concern, the care… the fear._

_I'm sorry, I try to say. Please don't look like that. I'm sorry I made you sad. I'm sorry for making my parents sad… and my friends…_

_Please… don't be sad…_

**I open my eyes.**

_It's cold._

_Someone is weeping, soft, harsh sobs. I hear a baby, echoing them with its own wails nearby. It's cold, frightfully cold, as if I had just gotten out of a hot shower into the cooler air of the bathroom._

_Fear spikes, deep in my heart. Where am I? How did I get here? I shift and squirm, trying to move, but something had changed – my body would not do as I willed._

_Warm arms envelope me. I feel small, swallowed up in them, as I'm lifted like a babe. I open my mouth to scream, and it comes out in a high, screeching wail, in a voice I did not recognize as my own._

_What's happening to me?_

_A curtain of red surrounds me. The sobbing intensifies, and I realize it's a woman. She's whispering something, a mantra, a prayer, in my ear. My cries slowly cease. Beside me I feel another presence, something intrinsically so familiar he felt like déjà vu – yes, he. But try as I might, I could not remember meeting him before._

_The arms around me pull me closer. The woman presses a kiss against my forehead, crying, crying. I could feel her warmth, comforting me in her embrace, the curtain of red falling like rain over my bare, sensitive skin._

_The red of love._

**Open your eyes.**

_The moon is full. Pressure weighs down on me like iron. A fear so deep, deeper than instinct seeps into my bones. A shriek pulls itself out of my lips, uncontrollable, echoed by the one-who-is-familiar-but-isn't. The grip holding us both tightens. I look up, and see the moon, the full moon and its light on the person holding me up, throwing a halo of gold around his head._

_The fear is almost solid, sticky as honey but as cold and viscous as mud. The peace I'd just so recently found was gone, torn away in an instant. Red blazes like an inferno, stark against the night sky._

_The red of hatred. The red of fear._

_What is going on? I wail._

**Dammit, _open your eyes!_**

_Voices. An alto and a tenor. Rising and falling in a harmony of fear and anger and determination. I wail, and wail, and he-who-was-familiar-but-wasn't wails with me. I reach over, and find him nearby. I grab his hand, desperate for comfort in a world that was fear and voices and unknown, everything unknown._

_And then they tear me away from him._

_I scream, and scream, unable to stop, unable to restrain the fear, pouring off of me in waves. I was alone, on something made of cloth, yet gave no warmth, only dread and cold and fear, fear, fear._

_Something hot drips on to my skin. Words and voices._

_It sounds like goodbye._

_Please! Please…_

**_DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!_**

"Min'ko-chan!"

I shot up with a gasp, almost throwing Naruto off our bed. He yelped, falling backwards into the mattress. My eyes flickered in panic – left, right, white sheets and cold metal, sunlight through the windows and scratched wooden walls.

No moon. No fear but my own. No voices I didn't know.

"'_Tetetetete_… THAT HURT!" Naruto wailed, clutching his head where it had met the wall.

"S-sorry… Naruto." No matter how many years I'd been with him, it was always a wonder to wake up every morning and say that name.

Naruto. My brother. A boy that wasn't supposed to be real, in a world that wasn't supposed to exist.

And me. The one who was never meant to exist here in the first place.

"…y. Oy! Min'ko-chan, you're spacing off again, dattebayo!" said brother grumbled, waving a hand in front of my face. I blinked, then swatted it away.

"I'm thinking of a way to take revenge against you for ruining my beauty sleep." I grinned wickedly at him. "And for the last time, it's _Mi. Na. Ko,_ dattebana!" I immediately clamped my mouth shut and scowled. I've been trying to get rid of that speech tic for _ages_. Why I just keep blurting it out?

Naruto barked out a laugh at that, half in fear and half in glee. Then he sobered.

"That nightmare again?" he asked, his voice soft and sad. My expression slowly wilted. That kind of look did not belong on his face. Naruto, dear, bubbly, beautiful Naruto, did not deserve to have expressions like that on his face.

"Yeah." I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine with a little food in me. What time is it anyway?" I looked around. The tiny window above our little closet-room showed a fairly blue sky, which meant nothing in sunny Konohagakure.

"Somewhere around nine, -ttebayo," he replied, rolling out of the futon. "Everyone's probably eating breakfast already."

I wriggled out of the blankets, raising an eyebrow until he blushed and moved to help me roll it up. I had quickly learned that raising a kid meant constant vigilance (hahaha, quoting Harry Potter while living in a closet), micromanaging every move you and the child make to make sure he doesn't pick up any bad habits, from you or anyone else.

Raising a kid at twenty… _as a kid_…

Dear God Almighty, kami or shinigami, whatnot… what did I do in my previous life to deserve this?

"Why do you keep spacing off?" Naruto whined, tugging on my arm. "You always do that, -ttebayo! Come on, I'm hungry!"

"Alright, alright…" I let my smile bloom on my face, this one clearly displaying my love and fondness for him. It had the immediate effect of turning him beet red, from his neck up to his tiny ears. He snorted and looked away.

God, was baby Naruto so _cute_! Can you believe we're actually _related_?

Oh man, if I grow up with even a quarter of the looks his – our! – parents had, I would die happy.

Then I remembered exactly what kind of world I was in, and quickly took that back.

"C'mon." I pulled him along, hand in hand like… well, like little kids. It took a little tiptoeing to reach the doorknob before we could exit our tiny closet-room. By closet-room I mean closet-turned-room, literally. To keep the other children "safe from the demon brats", the orphanage staff had converted a utility closet into a tiny room filled with shelves and a crib, and later on a futon to share when a bed wouldn't fit.

Our bare feet padded on the wooden floor of the large, traditional Japanese style house. The one good thing about our room was that we didn't have to share a room with at least eighteen other kids. It's enough of a hellhole in the evenings, and I wasn't even in the room when they made noise.

The hall was unnaturally empty as we headed towards the cafeteria. The orphanage was fairly small, and it usually felt even smaller with a population of about fifty kids from ages 1 to civilian 15. At least the cafeteria was easy enough to find; all we had to do was follow the cries of hungry children and the smell of a good stew brewing.

"C'mon! C'mon, I'm hungry!" Now it was Naruto pulling me along. I laughed, and sped up, with our little feet thud-thudding all the way up to the door.

Only to jump back as a horde of children roared out of it. Laughing, cheering, they bolted out the door, ready to play in the sun or turn an assigned chore into a competition. It was like a monster had been let loose to wreak havoc on the earth.

…well, considering we're talking about children here…

Scratch that. Considering we're talking about _ninja_ children here, there is no doubt about the "monster(s) let loose to wreak havoc on the earth" part.

Orphanages in Konoha were funded by the government. However, with that funding came an agreement – all the children housed in the orphanage, upon reaching the beautiful, tender age of six and _still_ not being adopted (boohoo), were sent to the Ninja Academy. If they passed, they became ninja.

Few managed to be selected for personal jounin senseis and their own genin teams. Even fewer managed to get a solo apprenticeship with a jounin. (The most legendary example of this rarity being dearest Yondaddy himself. And Kakashi, come to think of it, though I didn't find that out until later.) Those that were completely hopeless were sent back to the orphanage in shame, to finish their schooling in civilian school and become the shopkeepers and other unnoticed but equally important members of society.

…Which meant that, while the village now had a steady supply of cannon fodder and the occasional prodigy, it was also constantly breeding civilians that held a bitterness towards what they could have been, but weren't. The "ninjas are cool" and "to be a ninja is the utmost honor to have in the village" brainwashing didn't help any. Add that to the number of civilians that were creeped out by ninja in general, Konoha wasn't really building up a happy place here, huh?

Maybe, only a small portion of the village was actually made of orphans, and those were usually the children of ninjas killed while doing their jobs, meaning a higher success rate of becoming a ninja, so it probably didn't matter much in the face of ambiguous statistics?

Sometimes I thought thinking up crazy things like this was the only way my mind could cope with having the body of a three year old but the mentality of someone at twenty.

Naruto's yelp yanked me right out of my musing and back to the present. "_WHAT?!_" I winced and tried to clamp my hands over my ears, forgetting I was holding Naruto's hand. I nearly socked myself in the face. "Whaddaya _mean_ the cafeteria's _closed_?"

_At this rate I am never going to marry and have kids. Having to live with the shrieks of a pouting child once is enough for a lifetime, thank you very much._

"What I mean is… _IT'S CLOSED_!" We jumped in unison as a tan, wrinkly face shoved itself into our personal space. "You and your sister are late, therefore you miss breakfast!"

"But you _said_ breakfast ended at 9:30!" Naruto whined. "You told me, -ttebayo! That's why I went to wake up Min'ko-chan first!"

"I said 9:00, _brat_." The orphanage head's nostrils flared wide with her fury. "_Everyone_ knows the cafeteria closes at nine! It even says so, right here!" She slammed her hand against the wall.

_BAM!_ We jumped at the sound. Again.

Sure enough, a small sign was plastered next to the cafeteria. She pointed at it, with a face that screamed contempt at the two of us. At my brother.

I could feel Naruto's hand shaking in mine. Without looking, I knew that his face was beginning to scrunch up and that his blue eyes were beginning to fill. I could hear the faint sniffles beginning to form and smell the faintest tang of saltwater on the air.

My eyes narrowed.

"Miyagawa-san." The woman visibly recoiled, before gathering her wits and pulling herself together. Her stern façade, however, wasn't as convincing this time. "Please forgive my brother for getting the time wrong." I felt Naruto jerk to protest and clamped my hand down on his. "It's not his fault though. We don't know how to read yet, so we couldn't exactly check the sign." Once again, I cursed my limited vocabulary in this world's language. That would have sounded more impressive if I'd used fancy words and formal language.

_Please forgive my brother for mistaking the time of the termination of morning meals. However, it is not due to any fault of his, as neither of us is yet able to read, therefore he had no way of checking the time in the event of a misunderstanding or loss of memory._

It sounded ridiculous and maybe even pompous, and could even be made more highfalutin with a little work and editing, but hell, even just thinking it made me feel a whole lot better.

Miyagawa-san seemed to get her wind back at that. "Are you calling me a liar?" What she did after that statement could be compared to that of a threatened rooster: she inhaled, her wide nostrils widening even further, puffing herself up to seemingly twice her size. Her eyes narrowed until they were but dark lines on her reddened face. A mole on her cheek stood out horrendously against the color.

"No, ma'am." I let my eyes open up, the picture of puzzled childlike innocence. My voice was just the right shade of confused and clueless. "I was just saying."

Naruto was practically trembling with impatience and righteous fury. I kept my grip on his hand tight, a small action imploring him to keep quiet just a little bit longer. Miyagawa-san glared at us a little longer, but, unable to find a hole to attack me with, had to relent.

"Fine! Now get out of my sight before I ban you two from lunch too!" she roared.

She would. And she has, too, so Naruto and I wasted no time in turning tail and fleeing the vicinity.

The moment we were out of view and hearing, Naruto stomped his foot and began to yell. "I _didn't_ get it wrong, -ttebayo, I _didn't_, I _didn't_! She said 9:30, and when I looked the short stick wasn't even at 9 yet and the long stick was after 10 so I didn't get it wrong, I didn't I didn't I didn-"

"Naruto!" I placed my hands on his whiskered cheeks and forced him to look at me. He wasn't even starting to make sense anymore, not even in convoluted toddler-speech, which meant he was _really_ upset. "Naruto, _look at me_." He stopped glaring at the side and actually looked, red-faced and his blue eyes swimming in barely held back tears. "I believe you, Naruto."

His frown eased a little. "You do?" he asked, the scrunched up eyes opening somewhat.

"Yeah, I do." I smiled at him, trying to convince him that I did, and do, that he was _my_ Naruto and I knew he wasn't as stupid as people put him out to be. I didn't have proof yet, other than a few spotty lessons on learning how to tell time, and a few other things, but I knew.

Or I could be biased. But this is what having faith is like, right?

"But… but why would Miyagawa-san say something like that?" His eyes were starting to swim again. I gently brushed the few tears that escaped with my tiny hands, wondering if I should tell him the truth or struggle to keep his innocence whole a little longer.

"I… don't know, Naruto." I finally, honestly, said. "Sometimes people are mean for no reason I can tell. Maybe Miyagawa-san is hurting inside, so she hurts others. Maybe she's lonely and feels better that others are hurting with her. Or maybe she feels better because she feels stronger when she hurts others."

"But why?" Naruto insisted, his tears bubbling over into streams. "It's not fair, dattebayo! I didn't do anything to her!"

I opened my mouth… then closed it. It's true. It wasn't fair. And what's worse is that I knew she wasn't doing it to any of the other children either.

Was it jealousy of the children who received two separate visits from the Sandaime? Two visits too many for a normal child? Or was it…

My hand strayed towards my temple, barely brushing the black line I knew stretched from around my eyes to there. Days of tracing it in front of the mirror let me memorize the smooth tattoo, from where it started at the corners of my eyes, over and under my lashes, to the tiny ends that reached for my hair, like a fierce eyeliner design for a Hollywood party.

_Demonspawn_, they'd called us. Called_ me_.

"Minako?" he asked softly.

I shook my head clear and tried to smile. "Life isn't very fair at times. Especially people." I paused, but easily forestalled another "why?" when I saw it coming. "It's hard to explain," I said ruefully, stating the words I used when either my limited vocabulary could not keep up with what I was trying to teach Naruto (my brother!), or it really was hard to explain. This situation right now was both.

Naruto looked ready to push it, but relented with a sigh.

"C'mon." I wiped the last few tears off his cheeks with my hands once more, before wiping them off on my fourth-hand (possibly more) duster. Then I took his hand and tugged him back into motion. "Let's get you cleaned up."

My smile brightened as he gave a wobbly one back.

We walked to the bathing area. I had tried to drill the importance of bathing into Naruto, but it was hard to do when we only had a pair of clothes each. For now I was ready to settle for washing his face.

"Come on, Kaoru, you can't not take a bath. Move along…" A gentle voice reached my keen hearing long before we saw the owner. Turning a corner, we found a brown-haired woman kneeling in front of a pouting child.

"I _dun wanna_!"

Minoru-san was Miyagawa-san's older sister. A soft, sweet woman, it was a wonder those two were even related. If there was ever a more impossible set of siblings, they would be it. While Miyagawa-san grumped and roared and glared, Minoru-san was always ready with a smile and a lap for all your misery. This was one of the reasons why most children called her by her first name, while Miyagawa-san by her last.

"I know! How about you take a bath now and-" A stifled gasp. I stiffened, coming to a sudden stop that sent Naruto bouncing off my back and nearly toppling both of us over. Hazel eyes were wide with terror, her skin as pale as an egg.

"Minoru-san?" Kaoru, a new kid, glanced between me and the frozen woman. "Minoru-san, what's wrong?" He reached up and tugged on her sleeve.

"N-n-nothing. Say, Kaoru, why don't we go for a snack first and then come back later?" Minoru-san snatched up the little boy in her arms. Shooting one last terrified glimpse at me, she fled, socked feet thump-thumping on the wooden floor.

"…Min'ko?" Naruto gave my sleeve his own, gentle tug. I didn't have to look to see his round, puzzled blue eyes.

"Come on, Naruto." My voice sounded distant to my ears. "Let's get your face washed."

"Min'ko… why'd Minoru-san look so scared?" he asked, following obediently. "She looked scardier than when I showed her that bug I caught before."

"More scared," I corrected him absently, dragging him to a sink and grabbing a stool to stand on. "Now scrub your face like I taught you."

"More scarblrbulbrrr," he repeated, the words disappearing under running water. "But," he added, pulling out from under the tap, "You didn't answer my question, -ttebayo!"

"I can't explain right now, Naruto," I said, fighting back my impatience that I knew wasn't truly directed at him.

"But why noooot?" he whined, stepping down from the stool.

"I just can't, okay!" I snapped.

He recoiled, making me wince and hold my face in my hands.

I took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, I… I don't know, okay, Naruto? I just can't."

How could I, when I was not supposed to know about the Kyuubi in the first place?

* * *

A/N: I'm going to be completely honest here in that I'm just writing this out as I go. There are events I can imagine and want to happen, but I have no idea how to link them together into an overarching plot. This is one of the reasons why updates are pretty slow too. I can imagine how Minako would react to certain events, like the Chuunin Exams for example, and there are characters I want her to meet but struggle to make it realistic, but that's pretty much more or less the limit of my capabilities for this fic. Seeing as how there is almost no planning in the first few chapters, and too much planning for future chapters has essentially ground my writing to a halt, I hope you will all forgive the dip in quality as I try to get my game together.

NaruSasuSupporter: I apologize, I know the whole setup was a bit crappy. My original plan was for this fic to be a sort of mix of drabbles based on several different AUs I could imagine Minako to be in. I think I'll just split it into different stories though, if ever, because I have enough trouble writing this one and I don't seem to have any drive to write the others yet (not out of lack of ideas but lack of motivation... I guess? And time of course). I hope the new title and summary are good enough…? ;w;

Ox King: Oh dear. Now I'm a bit scared to fall short XD;

...damn my chapter titles are _awful_


	3. III

The first time Kakashi met his sensei's children, he almost tried to kill his daughter.

Obito would have laughed.

He'd thought they were dead. He'd taken it for granted that the children had perished as Minato-sens- the Yondaime battled the Kyuubi and gave up his life to seal it into a child. He'd never thought- no, he did not want to think - that the Yondaime would seal the monster into his own child.

(Of course he would. Only Minato-sensei would be noble enough not to ask any of his loyal villagers to give up their child in order to spare his own.)

He'd fled into ANBU, just as Jiraiya had fled into the country, barely staying for the funeral before they both ran with their personal demons nipping at their feet. He avoided every mention of his teacher, respectfully deflected every time Sarutobi-sama tried to breach the subject with him, and did his utter best to live for all who had died when all he wanted to do was join them in peace.

Then someone started a riot and the ANBU was set loose and Hokage-sama summoned him and his team, his face sad and apologetic, and asked him to protect two children with his life.

A girl with red hair, and a boy with blue eyes.

Only the weight of his mask and the presence of his team mates had stopped him from collapsing at the invisible sucker punch to his gut. He stood, frozen in place, as the Hokage debriefed him - them - of the circumstances surrounding the children. The S-class secret that had been broken by a gossip, a superstitious civilian and a panicking mob filled with grief.

The girl raised her head and looked at him.

_Black markings bathed in red and chakra that burned like fire_

He made an aborted movement towards a kunai. To the children's eyes his hand twitched. To the Hokage's eyes, his ninja all stiffened as they waited for Hound to launch himself at the girl that looked like the spawn of the devil who had slaughtered the only family he'd had left.

But she wasn't. They weren't. They were his sensei's children bearing their mother's burden and curse.

Hound nodded once. The room relaxed.

* * *

The safe house was meant to hold four people comfortably. And yet the room still felt impossibly small, with a couple of children, a teenager, and him.

Bear was a comforting presence in the roof above. Horse was merely a flicker amongst the trees as he ran patrol. Tiger was nearest to the children by the window, while Hound stayed as far away from them as possible without walking out the door. He didn't bother trying to convince himself that he was guarding the entrance. He could practically _feel _Tiger's puzzlement and concern wafting across the room.

The children were communicating silently in a corner, in a way that only children could. He could hear their muttering easily, as their eyes darted to and fro between their motionless companions. The boy in particular was almost shameless in his constant, nervous glancing. His sister nudged him, an unspoken language. The boy glanced at her, eyes wide, before outright staring at Tiger.

The silence was almost palpable.

Tiger fidgeted slightly. Unfortunately, there was no way to make masked men in black suits less intimidating to a three year old child. That was the _point_.

The girl nudged her brother again. The kid took one look at her before blurting out, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"

_"We're naming him after Jiraiya-sensei's book. Remember the Tale of the Gutsy Ninja?" _

_"His name is The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja?"_

_"No!"_

_"His name is going to be Naruto! And he's going to love, love, LOVE ramen, dattebane!"_

_"Oh no. Not another one, please. You drain my wallet enough as it is!"_

_"Shut up and just admit you're whipped, -ttebane."_

_"Wh-"_

_"She's got you there sensei."_

_"Kakashi!"_

Naruto looked at his sister for reassurance at the lack of response. She put a hand on his shoulder, before patting down the skirt of a dress too big for her and facing poor, awkward Tiger.

"My name is Uzumaki Minako." She bowed. "Thank you for taking care of us."

_"__**Mi**__nato and Kushi__**na**__'s __**kid**__! __**Mi-na-ko**__!" Throaty, gleeful laughter. "And of course, there's still the kanji reading, '__**beautiful child**__', which she will totally be with Minato's girly face-"_

_"Hey-"_

_"-and then you can think of it as '__**minna-ko**__', so everyone _has _to baby her-"_

_"At this rate, she's going to be spoiled rotten before she hits four."_

_"I think you're going to be the one who'll spoil her rotten, sensei. If Kushina-san has you whipped, Minako-chan will have you wrapped around her little finger."_

_"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I _knew_ there was a reason I liked you, Kashi-chan!"_

_"...Aren't you supposed to be on my side Kakashi?"_

_"If you get her to stop calling me Kashi-chan then maybe I will be."_

Remembered pain threatened to swallow him whole. Kakash- _Hound _frantically shoved it to the back of his mind, using every technique he knew to compartmentalize and focus on the present. It was the first time his Hound persona ever threatened to break.

_Minato-sensei... Kushina-san... _

He hadn't even spoken to the children and already he had failed them. He didn't need a file to see the lack of fat on their cheeks, the oversized clothes, and the way they stuck to each other. Where were they staying? Who was taking care of them?

_Obito... What would you do?_

"Naruto-"

He almost jerked, a very un-ninja-like thing to do. Two pairs of unnervingly similar blue eyes peered up at him. They were too close for him to ignore the whispered mutterings between them.

"So, wait, if he's Tora-san, then-"

"He's Inu-san, Naruto, just look at the mask-"

"Whaaat? But he looks nothing like-"

"Will you just-"

At least the children seemed to have recovered from their ordeal. What a mess.

"Ne, ne, Inu-jiji!"

...what.

He stared at the little fluff of yellow craning its neck up at him. Innocent blue eyes widened in the most devastating puppy eyes ever (he should know, he helped raise Pakkun) as little chubby arms rose in the children's universal sign of "up".

Tenzo stared.

He stared.

The boy stared.

"Naruto!" Minako gasped, utterly scandalized.

Obito would be having a _fit._

With a resigned sigh, he reached down and pulled Naruto up, taking extreme pains not to accidentally poke him somewhere lethal. How do you even carry children anyway? Sure, he knew the anatomy of a human child, and more besides, but what if he hurt him? What if he _cried_?

Naruto giggled. He looked the exact opposite of ready-to-cry. His sister, meanwhile, looked like she'd just been slapped with a fish.

He held out Naruto at arms length, hands gripping him as loosely as possible around the ribs (why was he so _thin_) and gave him his best deadpan stare.

Never mind that he was wearing a mask or two, he was sure such stares could be sensed even with a barrier impeding the recipient's vision.

The brat only had the audacity to giggle more, and even waved his arms around in glee. "Look, Min'ko-chan, look! I'm flying!"

"Naruto, if you keep wriggling like that, he'll drop you," Minako said weakly, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of her little brother flapping about in an ANBU's hands. Hound let out a little sigh, more of a huff, really- and then scents assaulted his nose, making his nostrils flare on instinct as he took it all in.

Naruto smelled like people-sweat and Konoha-dirt, with strong-detergent and child-piss layered over his natural scent. Kakashi inhaled, his mind automatically labelling it as pack and alpha's-pup and- oh god, he'd imprinted, that wasn't supposed to happen, he needed time to think, to-

And then Naruto yanked on his hair.

"_Naruto!_" Minako looked like she was about to have a meltdown. Which, in retrospect, wasn't really surprising considering he knew at least twenty ways to kill her brother where he, er, hung, in various degrees of painfulness.

Naruto _giggled_. The brat. "Ne, ne, Inu-jiji, what's wrong with your hair? It's so weird!"

Obito wouldn't be having a fit, he'd be in absolute _hysterics._ And Kushina-san would be cackling proudly along with him. Tiger in the corner had actually _turned around _to try to keep his giggling in. Fuck him. Fuck them. Fuck everyone. Why oh why did the world hate him?

And no, his lips were _not _twitching under his mask. No. Way.

He pulled Naruto away from his hair, thankful that he didn't struggle overly much and possibly pull out a few precious strands. A soft shuffling noise by his feet caught his attention.

He looked down.

Minako looked up.

Her gaze looked... curious. Calculating. He felt his hackles rise slightly.

Then her big blue eyes widened. Her lower lip slowly jutted out. She raised her arms.

Oh _hell_ no.

He very pointedly lowered Naruto to the floor, never breaking eye-contact with her because _dammit_, he was _not_ a babysitter-!

"NO!" Naruto barked, smacking him on the head. "Up! Up!"

His eyelid twitched.

"Meeeeeeee," Minako whined, standing up on her toes in an effort to reach her brother.

He could _hear_ Tenzo snorting under his breath. God_dammit_.

Twin sets of blue quivered.

It took almost no effort at all to lift both kids to chest level.

The twins wasted no time in happily exploring their new perch, patting the strange vest and the cool mask and the springy hair. He stayed iron-stiff the whole time, only shifting when Naruto pawed at the edge of his mask. He growled, a low rumble in his throat, that made Naruto's eyes widen in fascination. He looked ready to try again, but then Minako smacked her brother's arm, and Naruto desisted with a little pout. Neither made any move to climb down.

Kakashi resigned himself to being a kiddy perch for the rest of the night.

Tenzo fell silent, but the amusement radiated off of him in waves. Kakashi shot him the chakra equivalent of a jab to the gut. To his credit, Tenzo barely flinched. He sheepishly (to ANBU eyes) glanced at his senpai, who irritably flashed him some handsigns with the few free fingers he had left. _Get back to work._

Tiger obediently returned his attention to the window. Minako stared at the exchange, wide-eyed. Naruto giggled again, patting experimentally at different parts of his head.

Despite his expectations, it didn't take long for the children to quiet down, the adrenaline bleeding away and leaving exhaustion from their ordeal. Soon enough, Naruto was sprawled over his shoulder, snoring softly, his upper half hanging over Kakashi's back and a hand clutched loosely around a few strands of Kakashi's white hair. Minako, meanwhile, was curled against his chest, her hand fisted around a vest clasp as she snuffled softly into his shoulder.

Something inside him circled; once, twice, then settled. He no longer needed to breathe in to remember the scents of the two children, of the pack, in his arms. The hound in him had accepted them as pack. He bit back a growl of helpless frustration. For better or for worse, he was stuck.

* * *

The first time Kakashi visited them was two weeks after the Law of Silence had been passed. Guilt had driven him to cling to rules like rust on iron. Guilt had driven him to change from the perfect ninja into a living memorial. Guilt had driven him into ANBU, then Root. And so guilt drove him now, towards the two children he hadn't bothered asking about on the night that his teacher... Their parents... The last remnants of his and their family…

He shook his brooding off like raindrops on fur and settled down in the tree outside the orphanage. The windows were dark, to match the darkness of the evening sky. He probably shouldn't have picked nighttime to visit them, but…

A short jump took him to the orphanage roof. From there he started methodically searching the windows, starting from the south side of the miniature compound heading north. Like he was scouting out a hit…

He shook his head.

The miniature compound was more like a ring of traditional, single-floor buildings with sloping slatted roofs and paper screen doors, surrounding a square patch of land with patchy grass tufts and sand littered with children's footprints. It was one of the few left over from the Kyuubi attack. Not surprising in hindsight, considering its close proximity to the Hokage mountain and east of where the bijuu-dama carved a ditch through the center of Konoha.

"M-mmama… P-Papa…"

He found Minako on the east side of the orphanage, curled up and sobbing into her pillow.

"Ai w-w-wantu g-go h-honn..." her small, frail body shook as she cried, mumbling unintelligibly as she tried to muffle the sobs that might wake the rest of the room.

Kakashi sat beside the small window, unable to do anything but watch his sensei's daughter cry. It would have been better if she wailed, he thought absently, feeling every sob and hiccup like a punch to the gut. He knew those kinds of sobs, the quiet ones filled with pain that you couldn't... refused to let others hear.

It was the sob of those who felt all alone in this small, cruel world.

(But he hadn't been alone, not then. And the only time he realized it was when he lost everything he had.)

A short scan showed Naruto sound asleep on the opposite side of the futon. The boy shifted in his sleep, frowning as he sniffled, then settled. Minako hiccuped as his chakra slid over her, her chakra fluctuating against his in a pattern of surprise and misery.

A simple handsign, and her chakra slowed, then calmed, until her chest rose and fell in sleep. A little twist to his chakra sent her the image of her family - Naruto, sitting on their father's shoulders, yanking on his hair much like he had yanked on Kakashi's, while their mother laughed and cuddled Minako on her lap. Her breathing eased, and peace smoothened the creases on the little girl's face.

He checked on Naruto again and deemed him fine for the night. His chakra roiled like a bubbling stream, but the little he could see of his face showed it unmarred of sadness or worry.

That was good. He didn't think he could cast another genjutsu that night. He'd gone straight from training to patrol to the orphanage, and now Obito was berating him for it. He could feel the wetness spreading from under his hatai-ate down to his mask.

He turned, and shunshinned back to his home, ignoring the fact that his other eye was leaking too.

* * *

It wasn't hard to convince himself that there was nothing more he could do for the two. He was in ANBU. He couldn't take care of a couple of toddlers, he was barely even home. Besides, he wasn't even twenty yet! His father killed himself when he was eight. What did he know about child rearing?

At least he visited. Jiraiya, their _godfather,_ hadn't even had the guts to do that. He'd wrangled a promise out of his sensei to take care of them, stayed for the funeral, and left like the Kyuubi itself was on his heels. Being on guard for information in Konoha's time of weakness, his ass. Grief made the strongest of men bend, and Jiraiya had already lost two students to the war.

And yet despite all those arguments, he could not stop himself from thinking about the twins. He could last a month, or two, and then he'd find himself darting over to that window and searching for the children that brought so many memories he didn't want to remember.

More than once he'd arrived at the orphanage without the sight of any of the children to greet him. The first time that had happened, he'd, well, he'd panicked. He'd thrown out his chakra across the orphanage and instinctively fell into a crisscrossing diagonal search pattern, sniffing wildly and almost summoning his ninken pack before finding Naruto's chakra in a tiny closet. A little more searching revealed Minako in a similar situation on the other side of the compound. He didn't sigh in relief, but he did slump, feeling absolutely stupid and more than a little ridiculous.

He scanned their chakra for signs of pain or distress. Minako stank of terror, but there was nothing he could do without revealing his presence to her. Besides, she wasn't in any harm, right? After all, weren't children supposed to be afraid of the dark? Naruto was less fearful, though no less frantic. He attributed that to his separation from his sister.

Why were they in the closet? Had they been naughty? Kushina-san would be proud_,_ was all he could think before he bolted back home, sheepish and embarrassed like a dog with his tail between his legs. Wonderful way to display professionalism, Kakashi. Really.

His instincts were driving him crazy. Pack was pack. The hound inside him did not appreciate his efforts to avoid the children at all costs.

Everyone who got near him only got hurt, he argued against himself, bitterly and repeatedly, every week he didn't smell the scent of child-sweat and healthy-pup and paced the length of his apartment, practically carving a path on the wooden floor. They didn't need him in their lives. They were perfectly fine on their own.

Right?

* * *

A/N: Kakashi, you _angst ball._

Please note that Kakashi here is a biased or unreliable narrator, meaning he does not see everything, does not know how other characters feel or think regarding his reactions outside of his own guesses about that, and is restricted by his own misconceptions and own view in reality (ex. His repetitive denial and rejection of responsibility as well as wallowing in guilt). For my readers who are already studying literary criticism, this will be familiar to you. For my readers who aren't, welcome! Time to learn how to be skeptical of everything the narrator tells you (or anyone really, muhahahaha) because this is not the first time I will use an unreliable and/or limited narrator nor will it be the last. Trust no one. Look underneath the underneath. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Anyway, I've been sitting on this chapter for ages now because the next few ones are a _mess. _Skip Minako's childhood, summarize Minako's childhood, write about Minako's childhood? All the confusion, basically. Just, have this chapter and enjoy. Hopefully I'll put up the next one much, _much _sooner.

One last note: "Jiraiya [losing] two students to the war" is me trying to explain away the lack of info on Minato's teammates, not Kakashi suddenly finding out about Nagato and his friends.

This is why I stopped writing A/Ns in my older fics I talk way too much.

Thank you to IntoTheDeep27, xenocanaan, and Guest for your reviews! They meant a lot to me during my year of indecision!

Special thanks to my dear friend captain n00b for his wonderful, detailed, and merciless review, though I gotta admit that if I think about it too hard I'd end up freezing with anxiety. Which is part of what happened during the year I was gone. Thanks so much though! I know what to look out for now.

Special thanks to FlameCatcher as well, for getting me out of my rut with their encouraging words and motivating me to move onward with my stories. Nothing I can do about my mistakes now, so might as well move onward, yeah?


	4. IV

A/N: Uhh, tw for psychological abuse on children. Also, changing the rating of the fic because this is turning darker than I thought. I did my best not to make it super dark though! Hopefully this is as dark as it gets in the entire fic. More later.

* * *

I sat in front of the mirror, tracing the thin black lines around my eyes. It still felt so strange looking into a mirror and not finding black eyes and hair on dark skin. I peered into the tiny hand mirror, studying every vein and shift in color in my new eyes with fascination. Blue eyes had always fascinated me as a child. They were so bright compared to the blacks and browns I was used to. My eyes - Minako's eyes - were an ocean shade of blue, somewhere between the shade of deep-sea blue and water-over-a-coral-reef-on-a-sunny-day blue. It was the same as Naruto's eyes, actually, though his always seemed brighter, especially when he smiled.

My fingers returned to my natural tattoos. They might have looked sexy or intense on an adult, but it just made my eyes jump out of my tiny child's face. Why did I have them? Was it because Naruto was my brother? Or Kushina my mother? It was definitely because of the Kyuubi... they looked way too much like the markings around its eyes for it not to be.

But the Kyuubi was in Naruto... the little whisker marks on his cheeks proved it. I frowned at the mirror, feeling a little chill down my spine at how scary the glare looked. Sure, it was the glare of a teeny tiny five year old, but it was scarier than the glare of any _other_ five year old!

I puffed out my cheeks a little, and had to bite back a giggle. Okay, now that just turned it cute. Maybe I should practice puppy dog eyes and see if I could make them as devastating as Naruto-

"Min'ko-chan! Hey, hey, Min'ko-chan!" I jumped, almost dropping the mirror in shock. I shoved it into the shelf to my right even as Naruto barged into the room. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. "Were you staring at the mirror again?"

I burst out laughing, trying to keep the nervousness out of my voice. "What? No! Why on earth would you think that?"

His lower lip jutted out as he glared harder, not convinced at all. "You're always staring at them, -ttebayo!" I grinned unrepentantly at him, making him groan. "I don't get it! Why do you like looking at them so much?"

"Because I am gorgeous, that's why, dattebana." I flipped my shoulder-length hair over my shoulder and propped a hand on my hip, striking a pose.

His groan rose into a whine. "Whaaaat?" I burst out laughing and threw a pillow at him, making him scowl. "Come on, come on come on, we still have to clean the bathroom -ttebayo."

"Fine, fine, I'm coming." I stood, dusting my skirt off. I pretended not to hear his mutterings about "weird" and "girls" and pushed him outside, giggling to myself all the while.

Productivity was something encouraged in the children here, so everyone had their own chores to do, and a rotation for doing them. The only difference was that Naruto and I were always assigned to a single room by ourselves, which always meant we stayed there cleaning longer and had the double effect of separating us from the other children. The thought made me frown. If Naruto wasn't here, I'd have probably gone crazy. No wonder he turned into a loudmouthed prankster just to get attention in canon. I'd have probably done everything I could for attention at that point too.

Naruto held out his hand. I didn't even think when I took it, once again pitter-pattering out of our tiny room. We made our way to the bathroom, only to find a pail with the cleaning materials in front of the door, and a note stuck underneath.

"What does it say?" Naruto asked, peeking over my shoulder.

I couldn't help a low growl of frustration as I squinted at the semi-familiar mix of Japanese characters and other symbols that weren't familiar at all. This was revenge for yesterday, wasn't it? I swear, Miyagawa-san's inability to choose between aggressive or passive-aggressive hate would have been hilarious if it wasn't so irritating.

"Who cares?" I replied, stuffing the note into the pocket of my duster. I snatched the bucket and everything in it, grunting from the effort of dragging it inside the bathroom. "Let's just get started, okay?"

"Okay…" Naruto gave me one last puzzled look, before taking his own rag and starting on the floor.

I emitted another angry grunt as I yanked a brush from the bucket a little harder than necessary. That's it, I'm going to pay a visit to the orphanage library and I am going to _learn how to read._

With the first of many images of Miyagawa-san dying a brutal, painful death in my mind, I set the brush down and got to work.

* * *

Even when I was alive in my first life, I already acknowledged how lucky I was to be living it. My family was of the middle class and was able to send me to private schools with the best available education. My parents were loving and caring, a bit traditionalist but always understanding. I had a group of friends who felt like my platonic soulmates, we were that close. My little brother was a lot less exuberant than Naruto, but he loved me all the same and I loved him back.

I would be the first to admit that that version of me was a naive, sheltered girl. I found it hard to believe stereotypes like jocks beating up other kids, girls hair-pulling and doing all the things teenagers did on American TV. I knew there had to be some part of it that was real, but it was hard for me to believe there were people who could actually do that. It felt too surreal, like fiction. That didn't quite cover more serious crimes (like murder for example), but it still felt like something that happened to other people, not me.

Growing up in the orphanage changed all that.

Overly-abusive adults always made my eyes glaze over in fiction, because they almost always ended up feeling flat or unrealistic, made to tug on the heartstrings of the reader for the poor main character. And yet, Miyagawa-san almost acted like she wanted to live up to the stereotype with vigor. Most of the time, she ignored us and did everything in her power to pretend we didn't exist, including trying to convince the rest of the orphanage we didn't exist (hence the separate chores.) If she wasn't ignoring us, she was bullying us.

"_Brats!_" She never beat us, a small mercy. She _did_ find every excuse to lay the blame on me and Naruto, or give us heavy, tiring work, or keep us separate from the other children. She never outright called us _stupid_, but she certainly implied it with judicious amounts of sarcasm and patronization. It was all I could do not to scream in her face. Just because Naruto took time to absorb and process things didn't mean he was stupid! In fact, I found that he caught on to things pretty fast, given enough reason for motivation. And it wasn't my fault I found it hard to process things in the Konoha language!

Logically, I knew that there had to be a reason for her actions. I've seen her treat other children with a brusque but caring touch, and her lullabies were a prized privilege in the orphanage. But how could I make excuses for her like that, when every day I would catch Naruto fighting back tears or looking down as the children refused to let him play? How could I forgive her, when despite all that she's done and despite all he's been through, Naruto always tried to make me smile in his own awkward, heartfelt way?

I couldn't stand up to her. What use was fighting back if all that would do is make things worse? She had her own reasons after all, and even if I burned under the injustice of it all I couldn't exactly blame her for hating us... Or what was inside him.

Naruto was braver than me. I don't know where he learned how to prank, but somehow he managed to dump a bucket of dirty water on Miyagawa-san's head when we turned four and he caught me crying into my pillow in the middle of the night. He didn't get caught then, but we got thrown into the Cabinets of Doom anyway (that's what I called them, at least). I actually considered scolding him for it - he confessed to me when we got reunited - but I remembered Miyagawa-san's livid face and the laughter of the children around us.

The next time Miyagawa-san tricked Naruto into missing dinner, I helped him set up a sponge trap that sent the crabby lady skidding across the hallway.

From the way Greeny was eyeing us, he was remembering exactly that, and wondering if it was worth it to answer or if insanity was infectious.

We had been headed to the cafeteria for breakfast, only to find our way barred by a crowd of chattering children of different sizes. Naruto and I exchanged looks of puzzlement, before turning to stare at the crowd again.

"...What's going on?" I finally asked, addressing a blondie and a green-headed boy (and wasn't _that _weird?).

Greeny looked us over in that demeaning head-to-toe way, taking stock of my red hair and Naruto's big blue eyes and our clasped hands in one look. His expression screamed a bored, 'Oh. It's _you_.'

All the kids knew in some way or form to avoid us, thanks to Miyagawa-san's frequent angry outbursts and Minoru-san's silent example. My tendency to stick to myself and Naruto's natural tendency to wander in a small orbit around my general area didn't really help.

In the orphanage, Miyagawa-san and Minoru-san did their best to keep us separated from the other kids. Having our own room, delaying our meal times, assigning us different chores... It wasn't good. I could see Naruto hurting with the desperate, clueless loneliness of a child. He found his ways around it, snatching pieces of conversation whenever the staff weren't in the room, messing things up just to make everyone laugh and Miyagawa-san fume... I did my best to teach him to make sure his pranks would always be just pranks and never hurt anyone ("Otherwise they won't be fun anymore, Naruto,"), but to stop his bratty attitude completely?

Let's just say I couldn't be the best example of angelic behavior either.

And I had to admit, it _was _pretty satisfying to see Miyagawa-san shrieking obscenities with a red face and hair dyed pink.

I glared at Greeny, daring him to say anything that would ruin Naruto's perfectly good morning. He raised an eyebrow, not impressed at all. Considering he looked tall enough to be ready to graduate the Academy, and that I was a year away from entering yet, I couldn't exactly blame him for it.

"Edogawa just passed the independence exam," he said coolly, jabbing a finger over his shoulder. "Everyone's fussing over it."

I blinked, searching through the smatterings of vague faces in my mind and trying to see which one matched up to the name "Edogawa". Naruto - who spent more time with the other kids than I did - reacted first.

"_Eeeehhh?! _But Edogawa's not even in the Academy yet!" I snapped to attention at that, looking at Greeny and Blondie with wide eyes.

"It's true!" Blondie nodded vigorously, her little bun-shaped pigtails bouncing in her enthusiasm. "Edogawa-kun is reeeaaally smart! He knows how to cook and everything! Sora-san taught him!"

Sora-san was the orphanage cook, wasn't she? "I didn't know you were allowed to take the independence exam below the age of ten," I said warily.

"Not really. As long as you know how to take care of yourself, they let you go." Greeny shrugged. "They want to free up as much space as possible in the orphanages. Besides, Sensei told me the Academy graduation record was 5 years old, so they can't really say you're too young to live alone if you pass."

My eyes widened. "How do you apply?"

* * *

Turned out the basic requirements for taking the test were knowing how to read and write. Which, of course, sucked, because we weren't exactly good at that yet.

Naruto and I were currently halfway through our obligatory year of civilian school. Konoha's orphan children along with the rest of its civilian population started school at the age of 5, in a building separate from the one that housed the ninja kids. No clan kid entered civilian school. Their clans were expected to teach them their own basic education, as well as whatever cheating beginner techniques they learned inside their compounds.

In civilian school, children learned how to read, write, do math, as well as a bit of the basic history of Konohagakure. There was a lot on how the ninja worked tirelessly to protect and support the village, and how the village upheld the Will of Fire, even when under assault from the other villages.

Which was, wow, very interesting, and plenty awe-inspiring, but also kind of creepy. I mean, I get it, Konoha is awesome and all that, but from the way they painted it it sounded like they were the Hero of The Entire World? And the center of it too. And, okay, I might have fallen for it once, but after a couple of years of Tumblr I could sniff out a biased point of view from a mile away.

So maybe Iwa is a bit kekkai genkai hungry, but that doesn't mean they're _all _evil and drink-the-blood-of-their-enemies crazy! Also, Konoha isn't that awesome either, considering it pumped out nutters like Orochimaru, Madara, Tobi, and Danzo. The only stuff I was willing to believe was the stuff they told about Kiri, and only because I knew they really did have at least one shark baby (AKA Kisame). But, wow. Accusing them of breeding with sea demons? That's… a very disturbing mental image, to say the least. (But then again, wasn't there this one guy who graduated by killing an entire school…?)

After their first year in civilian school, the children who wanted to become ninja (AKA most of us, thank you biased history class) went on to the Academy. The rest (and the Academy flunkies) continued for another four years at civilian school, before apprenticing themselves to their profession of choice and growing up to become the working class citizens of Konoha.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to learn the Konoha alphabet. Being an adult in mind if not body, you'd think I'd be able to pick it up in a snap, no problem. Unfortunately, memorizing things had never been one of my good points. And the Konoha alphabet was _huge. _Not as big as the Japanese/Chinese kanji alphabet, but huge all the same, considering some of the Konoha letters were borrowed from there. (I think.) And since I was a minor, I couldn't claim guardianship of Naruto, so he had to take the test, too. Thank god his learning speed was slower than mine; I don't think I could have endured the humiliation if it wasn't. Keeping him caught up was hard though, especially since I wasn't exactly a master of the language yet. It didn't help that he had the attention span of a sea slug, and was picky about the books we read together.

* * *

"That one's boring." Naruto pouted, as I reached for the _Legend of the Bamboo Baby_ again.

I sighed and put the book down. "It's either this or _Ari no Ie no Ue, _Naruto." _Underneath the Ant's House _was the local equivalent of an ABC book. Other than that, there were embarrassingly few books that we could read in the orphanage library. I said orphanage library, but it was more of an exaggeration. There weren't _that _many books in the indoor play room, not enough to warrant a room for themselves, even.

"I don't like them! They're all boring, -ttebayo!" Naruto declared. "I wanna hear the one about Suticchi!"

I felt my face burn with a blush. Okay, so maybe I used vague recollections of Disney movies to entertain Naruto on the nights he couldn't stay still enough to sleep. His favorite, unsurprisingly enough, was Lilo and Stitch- or _Riro to Suticchi_, as he knew it. I had taken heavy liberties with the plot, considering all I remembered was Stitch was a wanted alien and Lilo was the weird kid with no friends, but Naruto insisted on hearing it again and again. Whether he liked it for Stitch's similar situation (a lonely fluffy dog feared by everyone) or the family feels between the alien and Lilo was up in the air. One thing's for sure, his favorite part of the story was always that one line that stuck in my head- and probably everyone else who watched the movie.

"You just want to hear the _ohana _line again," I grumbled, rubbing my burning cheek. It was the one thing that stayed constant in the story. Yesterday Stitch had been chased by evil ninja, and last week he and Lilo had run away to Iwa, just because. Naruto didn't seem to mind, even if his memory was much better than mine. Sometimes I even lost track of where the story was going. For some reason, he liked those times best.

"I like Suticchi!" He defended his favorite story with all the might of a toddler. "It's not boring! Not like the other stories."

"We need those other stories so you can learn to read, Naruto. We can't take the independence test if you can't read!" Seeing his unconvinced face, I wheedled, "Don't you want to get out of the orphanage? No more Miyagawa-san?"

His face crumpled, brows furrowed in conflict. "But I hate the other stories…" he whined.

I searched my mind for something else to convince him. "Okay, fine. How about you read _Ari no Ie no Ue _to me, and if you finish it, I'll tell _Riro to Suticchi_ to you?"

His frown intensified, eyes searching my face suspiciously. "Promise?"

I nodded, and held up my pinky finger in a solemn vow. "Pinky promise. Dattebana," I added quickly, because for some reason he never believed I meant something enough unless I said that stupid verbal tic too.

Naruto's nose wrinkled as he considered it. Finally, he nodded.

We shook on it.

* * *

Thanks to all the chores we did in the orphanage, we already knew how to clean up after ourselves. The next hard step was learning how to cook.

Not that I didn't know how to cook. But for once, Miyagawa-san's heavy skepticism and sarcasm did Naruto and me some good. I completely forgot we were in a world that snapped up child geniuses faster than you can say "feed 'em to the lions." So when she asked me how exactly I planned to take the independence test when I hadn't learned to cook yet, I realized… that I hadn't 'learned' how to cook yet. At least, not in this world. Could you imagine people's faces when a child just magically knew how to cook? Out of thin air? Nope, not going down that path.

And didn't that just suck, knowing I had Miyagawa-san to thank for something?

I peeked through the kitchen door, trying to see if there was anyone inside who would be detrimental to my cause. It was hard to tell, since Naruto and I hadn't been allowed inside ever since he played around with the suds and ended up breaking half a dozen plates in one go.

I still have no idea how that happened, and I was standing _right next to him_.

Inside the kitchen was a young girl in her early twenties (oh my god she had pink hair _and it looked natural__)_, a boy even younger than that, and a lady who looked old enough to be Miyagawa-san's aunt. She certainly had the frown down pat, though this one was directed at the pot she was stirring and not at me. For now.

Deeming it safe, I slid the paper door a little wider. The moment the wood scraped against the floor, the old lady's eyes snapped to mine, freezing me in place.

"You're not allowed here," she snapped, stormy eyes flinty over her wizened cheeks. I gulped, then grit my teeth and tilted my chin in a stubborn way that gave her glare for glare back.

"I want to learn how to cook like Edogawa," I declared, keeping my shaking hand on the door. I could see the younger girl giving me a wide-eyed look, while the boy looked ready to snap the broom in his hands. Hopefully it wasn't so that he could stab me through with a stick.

Good thing Naruto wasn't with me. Right now he was off with the other children, trying to join in their games with his usual relentless determination. I wished him luck and all the success. Thank goodness he didn't have to learn how to cook too, considering he was going to live with me. The thought of his hyperactivity inside the kitchen was enough to make my insides squirm. Not to mention how it would probably just worsen the tension in the room. Sister of the demon container, eww, gross. Actual demon container? Broom Boy probably _would _try to stab us with a stick.

Sora-san snorted, breaking the worst of it. Broom Boy turned back to his sweeping, his hands white-knuckled on the handle. Pinky needed a snap of the fingers from Sora-san before she returned to her senses and fled to what could only be the storage room. I bit my lip and did my best not to scowl. God save me from mutant hair colors the shade of neon lights and bad quality hair spray.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Sora-san snapped, breaking me out of my thoughts. I gaped at her, making her 'tch' and flap a hand impatiently at me. "The faster we get this over with, the faster I can get you out of my hair."

"You mean… I'm learning? Now?" I scrambled to follow, grabbing the chair she pointed at and dragging it over to the stove.

"Yes. Now. Unless you're waiting on that pesky brother of yours?" She raised an eyebrow. I scowled, but shook my head. "Smart choice. Now pay attention- I'll only say this once, so you better remember it." She pointed at a nearby box of eggs and made me fetch it.

"Wait a minute, you're only teaching me _once_?" I glanced between her and the pan already on the stove. "Don't you need more than one dish to know how to _cook_?"

"As far as the test is concerned, you only need to know how to cook something and rice." _Like that egg, _went unsaid. "Now get the oil and watch."

I balked. "You can't live off just egg and rice!"

Something slammed into the counter with the ringing of metal and the low thud of wood. I jumped, then yelped when Sora-san abandoned her pot to tower over me. "Look, brat. I don't like kids. I never did. The only reason I'm still here is because it pays the bills and I owed Risa's mother." I felt too scared to blink. Risa… did she mean _Miyagawa-san?_ "Now if you want to leave, then fine. No skin off my back, and less mouths to feed. But if you think I'm going to spend more time than necessary to teach you shit you can learn on your own, you better get out now before I kick you out." She snorted again, leaning down and turning the potency of her glare up by fifty. I flinched back. "Well? Are you going to follow or not?"

Too shell-shocked to argue, I barely followed her subsequent lesson on cooking a sunny-side up and boiling a pot of rice. I moved on automatic, busy wrapping my mind around her declaration. This was the lady in charge of one of the essential skills children needed to move out of the orphanage? A woman who taught children how to cook an egg and rice, then left them to figure the rest out themselves? This wasn't right! If they were letting five and six year olds live on their own, the least they could do was make sure they _lived _right!

Something must have shown on my face, because Sora-san made a rude growling noise in the back of her throat and almost startled me into flipping the egg into her face. "What? Shocked that I'm not happy with my job? I bet you're thinking, if I hate it so much, why am I still here? Well guess what, brat?" She punctuated her statement with the clang of pots landing among pans. "Life isn't fair. You better learn that before you go skipping into the sunrise of independent living. You planning to be a shinobi?" She waited until I nodded, then snorted again. "Ha! Good fucking luck with that."

I flipped my perfectly good egg onto a plate and avoided looking her in the eyes. Personally, I agreed, but that didn't mean I wanted to agree with a woman who just sent out children without caring whether they would live or not.

In the background, Broom Boy kicked a barrel into place a little too heavily and ended up cursing as it spilled over his foot.

* * *

With Sora-san out of the way, we only needed Miyagawa-san's permission before we could take the independence test. I grabbed Naruto by the hand and dragged him around the orphanage, searching for the rooster-like woman. God, I couldn't wait to get her out of my ass. The thought almost had me grinning as we scampered over the wooden floors. Maybe when we get out of here I could finally go looking for someone who doesn't hate the two of us on sight? The world's a big place, after all, and if ever I could just find a clueless foreigner and befriend them.

If I didn't get any supportive social interaction aside from Naruto soon, I just might fulfill expectations and burn something to the ground. Or a lot of things. It was up in the air. Too bad I never learned how to make Molotovs in my previous life.

"Min'ko, slow down," Naruto whined, tugging at the hand around his wrist. "You're too fast!"

It was taking a loooong time to break Naruto's habit of calling me "Min'ko-chan", but at least we were making progress. I couldn't wait until I knocked him out of it; it would be one less thing that made me feel like the child I was supposed to be. "Mi- na- ko," I reminded him, ignoring his whining. He was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and an Uzumaki to boot. He could handle a little running. "Come on, Greeny said she would be over here by the baby area!"

"His name's Kuroba," Naruto mumbled, but forged on obligingly.

"Kuroba, whatebah." He pouted at the horrible pun. I just grinned at him. "Hey, look, I found he-"

I skidded to a stop, my feet locking into place. Naruto yelped, crashing into me, and spouted some colorful words I made note to scold him about later. "Min'ko, what the-" I could hear his teeth click shut as he clammed up.

Just around the corner we could see Miyagawa-san seated on the edge of the raised pathway of the traditional-styled orphanage. On her lap was a small kid, a year or so older than us, crying into her skirt. Miyagawa-san hummed, stroking his hair with her hand.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sowweeeeeee," the kid bawled, digging his face in even further. "I w-won't do it again, I p-promiiiiiiiise!"

"_No… please… not the closet, not the closet! Please! It's too dark, it's too small, please, just let me go, I didn't do it, I swear-"_

"Hey, now. Look at me." Miyagawa-san tapped his cheek with a finger, until he raised his snotty face and looked her in the eye. "You want to be a ninja, right?" He nodded, making her smile. "Ninjas are very brave people. They have to be, so that they can grow up strong and protect the village. So you have to be brave too. When you make a mistake, you have to accept it! And then you do your best not to do it again. Alright?"

"_What kind of ninja is scared of the dark? Get in there! Stop blubbering and accept your punishment with dignity!"_

I felt something tug on my hand as if from far away. Someone was making small, whimpering noises at the back of their throat. Was it me? I couldn't tell. There was a fire burning in my gut, spreading from the tips of my toes to the back of my eyes. It pushed everything away, a wall of anger and hatred that made me see red.

"-n'ko-"

I hated her. I hated Miyagawa _so much. _How could she? How could she say such kind words to a crying child, only to turn around and say the opposite to a child even smaller than that? We had done nothing wrong except harbor a demon in the body of a child, which wasn't even a choice given to us. What kind of two-faced hypocrite could live with herself, caring for children and cursing just two?

"Min'ko-"

I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to hear her scream. Maybe then she'll feel like I did, trapped in a small, dank closet with only stale air and spiders for company. I could crush her under my heel like a bug. I could make her dream nightmares for the rest of eternity. All I needed was to reach inside and-

"_Minako, you__'re hurting me!_"

I jerked, my fingers opening of their own accord. Naruto's pained cry seemed to echo inside my head, chasing away shadows that suddenly clouded my vision. (And yet my vision had never been _so clear._) I turned around, just in time to see Naruto recoil, his wrist clutched to his chest with his other hand. "Oww…" Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. He sniffled, trying to keep his hurt arm still. But what struck me the most were his wide, terrified eyes and the way he flinched back from my outstretched hand.

"S-sorry," I stammered, trying to pull myself together. I felt heady, like I'd been standing on a cliff feeling the urge to jump, only to be pulled back at the last minute. I shook my head, clearing away the last of the angry fog. Hate doesn't get you anywhere, and only destroys yourself. I had to remember that.

Otherwise it would be a lot easier to turn into a killer than I feared.

"Sorry, Naruto. I was… I was thinking bad thoughts." I rubbed my still-burning eyes, and felt my hand come away wet. I looked at Naruto, whose stance had softened and his gaze more hurt than terrified. "I just… dammit." I rubbed my eyes again, and fought back a sob. This was _not _the time to cry! "S-sorry. Did I hurt you?" He nodded, biting his lip, but let me examine his hand. His wrist was red, my handprint clear against his tanned skin. I winced, pushing back the panic that threatened to take over me. Wasn't I a little young to show signs of ninja superstrength? Dammit, I didn't know anything! If anger could make me hurt Naruto by accident, then I needed to watch myself for now while there was no one around to teach me how to control it. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Naruto again… and this time, permanently. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. Let's go find some ice for that, okay? I'm sorry, Naruto."

My face must have been pitiful. I was worried sick. Naruto's eyes softened. He straightened his posture, bringing his chin up bravely. "Okay."

I placed my hand on his shoulder as gently as possible, steering him away… only for the last voice I needed to hear at the moment to speak up behind me. "What are you brats doing here?" Miyagawa-san said, her hard, clipped tone cutting through whatever peace I'd mustered for the moment.

I deliberately pulled my hand away from Naruto, clenching both into fists at my side instead. I turned, keeping my face as cold and deadpan as I could. "We're ready to take the independence test," I said, frozen with the effort of keeping my voice cool.

"Hmph." Miyagawa-san scoffed, letting go of the boy she'd been holding to cross her arms. "You'd better be. You wanted this, so you better pass. Otherwise it'll be the cabinets again for you." I couldn't help but flinch at that. She sneered, delighting in my fear. She dropped her arms and took the boy's hand again and moved past us. I could see him peeking back at us in curiosity out of the corner of my eye. Miyagawa-san had one last parting thing to say. "Thank the gods, I'll finally be rid of the two of you."

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists until I could feel my stubby nails biting into my palm. I took one deep breath, and another, and another. At last, I opened my eyes and gave Naruto a wobbly smile. His eyes were filled with the usual hurt, confusion, and anger whenever Miyagawa-san said something like that. "Thank the gods," I repeated, not caring if she heard me or not. I never looked away from Naruto. "We'll finally be rid of you too."

Naruto stared at me, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. Then, slowly, he smiled.

* * *

A/N: _OH THANK GOD IT'S FINALLY DONE. _I've been sitting on this chapter for over a _year_. If it weren't for youridiotwriter (CHECK OUT HER SATOKO SI FIC BTW IT'S THE BOMB YOU WON'T REGRET IT) this would have been stuck on the backburner forever and we'd never get an update.

Thank you, xenocanaan, Psycho-jellybean, Llyrica,  .stranger, and Petalclaw's PatriceBethPorter for your encouraging words!

Yowri: My new mission in life is to drown Kakashi in cuddly children. _I will do it to the utmost of my ability._

Edit: Whoa, check it out. Longest chapter yet.


	5. V

The independence test was a breeze. No, seriously. There was a written exam, part of which tested basic math skills so they could ensure you knew how to manage your finances. Then there was the practical test, where I demonstrated my sunny-side up and I managed to coach Naruto through a pot of rice. Afterward we were told to sign a contract that essentially sold our souls to the Ninja Academy for the next six years. Get kicked out of the Academy, get kicked out of your apartment. Ouch. It made sense though, considering we were basically walking, talking, monetary investments for the village. Once we made genin, we would be adults in the eyes of the law. Our contract would be over, and we could chose to move out or pay our rent ourselves.

I read all that in an agonizing eight minutes, shrugged, and signed my name with my best handwriting. Which meant it was shaky and full of blots. Ah, well. I was five years old. What could you do?

At least Naruto's wasn't any better.

The person in charge of the exam looked too bored to do anything but grimace in our direction. It's kind of sad how I considered that progress in our "adult interaction" experiences. He accepted our contracts and waved us out the door, mumbling something about "filing" and "a week". Grinning, Naruto and I took one exultant look at each other, before clasping hands and dashing into the hallway.

"Didja see that, didja see that? We did it, dattebayo, we did it!" he cheered, holding on to me with both hands and swinging the both of us around. I giggled, fighting to hang on and not bump into anything important at the same time.

"I did, I did!" I grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and jumped up and down instead, decreasing the chances of horizontal collateral damage. I ignored all irritated stares pointed our way and sang, "We're never going back to the orphanage, never never ever, and Miyagawa-san can kiss my-"

A loud cough interrupted our little celebration. We leapt together with not-so-little squeaks of surprise, latching on to each other like the second coming of Scooby Doo and Shaggy whatsisname. Standing in front of us was the Hokage, the fist covering his mouth not quite hiding his smile. "Good morning Naruto-kun, Minako-kun." He lowered his hand and let his smile grow into something kind and fond. "It's been a while. Do you remember me?"

"…You're the Hokage," I said at last, when Naruto was too busy gaping to reply. I fought to keep my body still, every limb screaming with the urge to fidget. There's nothing quite like the feeling of being stared down by the strongest man in the country. When the Hokage still looked expectant, I added, "S-sorry, I'm not really- I mean, Miyagawa-san said you visited, but-" My voice dwindled away. What on earth _do _you say to the strongest man in the country?

Naruto had no such qualms. His eyes lit up, and before I could even think long enough to stop him, he let go of my hand and threw himself at the Hokage. "_Jiji!_" he yelled with joy, throwing his arms around the Hokage's legs.

"Naruto!" I spluttered, waving my hands for lack of coherent thought to express. "I- you- don't just-" I threw my hands up. "You can't just call the Hokage, 'grandpa'-!" I cut myself off, deja-vu hitting me like a ten-ton truck.

The Hokage laughed, leaning down to rest one hand on Naruto's head while he waved off the alarmed staff with the other. "That's what you said the first time we met too," he told me, and held out his hand. "Do you remember me now, Minako?"

My eyes fluttered as I phased out, sorting through the sudden rush of memories in my head. "Naruto ran through the gate of the orphanage," I remembered, my breath shortening into gasps. "There were lots of lights, and everyone was in yellow… and then…"

A blank. "I don't remember," I realized, the thought shaking me more than I thought it would.

A hand plopped itself on top of my head, drawing me out of my memories. The same grandfatherly smile that I received to that day hovered above me now, with a warm hand that felt like hearth fire soothing my rabbit heart into a more natural beat. "It's alright." Jiji's voice was as gentle as the hand that smoothed back the hair from my face. "I wouldn't expect you to. You were very young then, and it has been a long time."

"No, but…" I trailed off. I should remember. It felt like I should. It was like there was a gap between my mind and the memory, and all I had to do was stretch a little more and I would reach it-

I shook my head, feeling my long hair swing through the air. It disturbed me, not remembering something I thought I should. It felt more and more like the things that made me, _me _were slipping away. Everyday I lost more and more of the family I used to have and the world that I used to know. It would have helped if I still had the memory of an adult and could at least remember what I went through for the past few years, but I didn't. I couldn't remember much of my childhood at all, even though every night dreams of tight spaces, lonely darkness and senseless fear haunted me.

And this memory in particular felt so… _odd. _Like something was holding me back from touching it. I could remember the Hokage's office, and clambering all over Kakashi like a pair of monkeys (_how _could I forget that, that was comedy and fangirl gold, _seriously?_), but how we ended up there… Nothing.

"Min'ko!" Naruto smacked me in the face, catching my nose and lip and nearly poking my eye out. "Stop it! You're thinking too much again!"

I scowled at him, feeling my cheeks burn. He just hit me _in front of the freaking Hokage Naruto how could you?! _"Naruto…" I growled, my eyelid twitching. Naruto took one look at my flaming expression, yelped, and hid behind the Hokage. Oh, now he's in for it-!

The Hokage chuckled, amused by our little sibling squabble. That only made me blush harder. I opened my mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by a polite harrumph that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The Hokage straightened, giving the man who coughed his full attention. It was the man who'd overseen our independence test. Sure enough, he had the clipboard with our grades and our contracts in his arms, half-hidden by the wide sleeves of his kimono-like office uniform.

Konoha fashion was _weird._

"Hokage-sama," the man said stiffly, his eyes squinting with disapproval at Naruto and me. "Are these children bothering you? Please forgive their… exuberance, their guardian will be here any minu-"

Naruto chose that perfect moment to interrupt him with a yell. "_Inu-jiji!_" I whirled around, just in time to see him release the Hokage's robes and throw himself at one of the two masked ANBU flanking the man. Kakashi's movements were smooth and fast; he caught him right under his armpits and held him in the air, as Naruto bellowed his happiness for all the room to hear.

That's right, you heard me. Naruto just went from hiding behind the skirt of the most powerful man in the room to glomping the scariest looking man in the room. "I knew it, I knew it wasn't a dream, dattebayo! The other kids said I was just dreaming, and I was just making it up, but I wasn't, I wasn't, and now I'm right, dattebayo, I'm right!"

The sight of a stone-faced ANBU agent awkwardly holding up an ecstatic child made my face morph in interesting contortions as I tried to decide whether or not to scream, laugh, or cry. Clipboard-san didn't look like he was any better off.

"-and I remember when we went _whoosh! _and Minako went _AAAAAAH! _and then we left Tora-san behind, and-"

I'd like to think I shared a fond, mildly hysterical look with "Tora-san" at that point. It was hard to tell, what with the mask and all. The Hokage, trying to hide his smile behind a hand in vain again, turned back to the twitching Clipboard-san. "As you can see, we're quite alright," he said, somehow making himself heard even as Naruto protested at his highest volume when Kakashi tried to put him down.

"If you say so, Hokage-sama." The clerk didn't even bother trying to sound convinced. In fact, he looked like he was having an aneurysm. His eye kept twitching and his face was turning an interesting shade of purple.

"-so I told them, one day I'm gonna be a ninja just like you, dattebayo! And then I'll show them ninjas really _can _fly, and I'll go really fast, and-"

Hmm, maybe Clipboard-san needed an even bigger headache. "Hey!" I whirled around, feeling my hair whip behind me as I turned. "I want a hug too!"

Naruto looked at me over his shoulder and wiggled. "He hasn't even hugged me yet!" He looked even more offended thank Clipboard-san did earlier.

"Well, _I'm _getting a hug," I declared, and did the most dangerous thing I'd ever done in both lives.

I hugged Kakashi's leg.

I hugged the leg of an armed man who could kill me with a finger, and hoooooly shit, was it an _experience. _I threw myself at that leg and almost brained myself on the sheer toughness of that hunk of flesh. Oh my god, that was _real live muscle_. Lord, was he made of _rocks_? Thank goodness I was so squishy, otherwise I would have broken my face on that. It was like trying to hug a tree at full speed.

I peeked at the clerk's face. He looked just about ready to keel over. _Yes. _Mission accomplished! Though, damn, Kakashi. No need to get all chakra excited on me. At least, that's what I assumed the prickly feeling on my arms and cheek was. You may not like hugs, but a little sparky is _not _going to stop me from hugging the fuck out of you!

Oh, gross, his pants smelled of _dogs._ And sweat. And dirt. And metal. With a hint of laundry soap and iron. Wait a minute-

"Hey! I wanna hug too, dattebayo!" Naruto flailed, trying to get his feet on the ground even as I jerked back from the leg I'd plastered myself against. Oh god, that wasn't _iron_, that was-!

It would have been hilarious seeing a stern ANBU looking to his Hokage for — Permission? Guidance? Support? Help? — if I hadn't been too busy trying to hide the fact that I was losing my shit over something else. _Why the hell did Kakashi's pants smell of blo- _oh wait. _Stupid _question, Minako. _Honestly._

The Hokage just smiled at Kakashi (_or was that a smirk_), leaving his subordinate to solve the problem on his own. Tora-san, meanwhile, was so still he looked like he'd turned into a tree. I'd bet my upcoming apartment it meant he was this close to losing his shit in public. Hell, _I'd _be losing my shit, except I was already losing said shit over- _don't think about it think about it later suddenly throwing up all over the nice man's shoes will not help you!_

Finally, Kakashi huffed, a soft sound that was only heard by Naruto and me. Our heads snapped up at the same time to stare at him. It was the first sound we'd heard out of Inu, the two times we'd managed to meet. Shocked into silence, he met no resistance when he put Naruto on the ground and pulled me away from his leg with care. Then he raised his hands and placed them on our heads. We just kept staring. I think even the other people in the room were staring, at the sign of humanity from what was essentially one of the bogeymen of Konoha civilians, children and adult alike. And no one could even tell what he was thinking, because all we could see was a painted Dog mask.

He moved his hands a bit, mussing up our hair in two, slow strokes, like… like he was petting a dog. I had to squint a bit as a bit of hair fell in my face. Naruto looked too amazed at the show of affection to even pout. Then Inu-san stepped back, pulled away and straightened. He was ANBU once more.

Everyone stayed a bit quiet after that. I was frozen stiff, too busy trying to fathom how… _happy_ I was. That was it. That was the feeling fizzing in my gut and dancing all throughout my arms and legs and up the top of my head. Barely a noogie to the head, and I already had to struggle to keep from bursting into tears. Naruto and I turned our heads and shared one, gaping, wide-eyed look. His eyes were practically _swimming_ with tears.

A different pair of hands clasped our shoulders and drew us away from the ANBU. The Hokage smiled, this one more honest and tender than anything he'd shown before. "Maybe next time you can ask Inu-san for a hug when he's not working," he said gently. We nodded, Naruto rubbing his eyes with a ferocity that surprised me. When he looked up, his eyes blazed with a fiery determination that sent shivers down my spine. Do you know that feeling when you see something, and it feels like you've just caught the first, smallest sign of something great? That was how I felt when I looked at Naruto squaring his shoulders and raising his stubborn chin for all it was worth.

"I'll definitely become a ninja, dattebayo! I'll be an awesome ninja, just like Inu-san! Believe it!"

So it turns out dattebayo was different from saying, "Believe it!" (exclamation point included). I was so busy gaping I almost missed my own cue when the Hokage turned to me. "That's a great dream to have. What about you, Minako?" he asked.

"M-me too! I'll do my best too, -ttebana!" I stammered, then reddened and bit my lip when that _stupid verbal tic _came out on its own. _Dammit, Kushina!_

"Then I suppose I'll be seeing you two in the Academy next year," the Hokage said with a smile, stroking his narrow goatee. Naruto and I took one look at each other, then nodded furiously. Our hands clasped tight, like a promise.

"Yeah!" we chorused.

* * *

There wasn't much I could have said to the Hokage otherwise. I _had_ to become a ninja. That path had been set for me when I was reborn as Naruto's sister in this world. If there was any chance that Naruto could _not _be a ninja, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. But he was the Konoha jinchuriki, and there was no way they would let him go. So I had to become a ninja, and one of the strongest at that. If there was any way for me to protect my brother and prevent a war, it would only be by his side.

And if announcing it to the world got us on the Hokage's good side, well, all for the better.

One week later, a different, and much more cheerful clerk handed us the keys to our apartment. "Here," she said, tossing the metal onto the table, not even bothering to look at us. She blew a gum bubble the size of a baseball, popped it, then waved her hand. "Blue for your door, red for the front, green for your mailbox and orange for the windows." A white envelope slapped down beside the keys. "Your monthly allowance. If you don't claim it, you don't get it." When she didn't hear the door slam close, she looked up, her expression irritable. _"Well_?"

"Th-thank you!" I gasped. Naruto snatched the keys and I the money. We fled through the door and down the hall towards our new apartment. Unit 106 was at the very back of the building, right next to the exit into the backyard. The building itself was old but still serviceable. The walls were made of Hashirama wood and cement, depending on which side got smacked over by Kurama on his birthday rampage. At least, I'm guessing it was Kurama. The mixing of materials looked too random to be an intentional infrastructure design.

We stopped in front of a dark-colored door, tall and imposing to our kiddy height. On a small, bronze plaque were the numbers 106. "Our own apartment," Naruto said in wonder, his baby blues wide. "Our own rooms!"

"Our own home." We grinned at each other, identical beams lighting up our faces. Naruto looked _adorable_ with his squinty eyes and whiskered cheeks.

It took a moment for Naruto to find the right key in his stubby little fingers, and another moment to unlock the door handle. He could _just _barely reach it. I was practically jumping with impatience by then, but it's not like I could have done it for him. We were the same height.

The click of the lock was music to our ears. We tumbled inside, giggling, and almost forgot to close the door in our excitement. Door closed, locked, shoes off at the genkan, and at long last, we could look at what would be our home for the next six years, if not more.

The first thing that greeted us was the dining table. It was square, with three chairs, one for each of us and another for a guest. Beside it was the kitchen, its three walls making a U that could fit the table if we wanted to push it aside for some space. The kitchen had a window overlooking the building's dingy backyard. When I ducked my head outside, I could see the door to the backyard to my left, and the trashcans to the left of that. Maybe that was why this room had been available. Well, their loss. The backyard was just big enough to accommodate two budding ninja kids practicing their kata after class.

"Min'ko, Min'ko, look, look!" Naruto's voice echoed back from the hallway past the kitchen. I followed it, passed the bathroom to my right, and ended up between the two doors opposite. Naruto's butt was sticking out of the one to the left. "We got two bedrooms! We can invite people over, dattebayo!"

I saw the opportunity and took it.

_WHACK!_

"_YAGHRKK!" _Naruto's squawk was a thing to behold. He must have leaped at least half his height into the air. "What was that for?" he demanded, clutching his butt with both hands.

I waved the hand I slapped him with, grinning. "You shouldn't stick your butt out like that! What if a ninja came up and stabbed you in it?" And he would, if Naruto wasn't careful. One day. Naruto pouted at me, his eyes watering at the injustice. "Oh come on, I didn't even hit you that hard." His lower lip trembled. I rolled my eyes and pushed his face away. "Oh stop it." I couldn't help the smile tugging at my cheeks though. He sniffed. "Oh, alright already, I'm sorry! Just stop making that face!"

Naruto grinned, the puppy dog look dropping away from his face like water. "Heh. Works every time."

I stuck my tongue out, mock-glaring at him. "Just wait. One day you're going to lose your cute fluffy-wuffy baby cheeks and your puppy eyes won't work on me any longer!" I grabbed him by the cheeks and smooshed the whiskered skin. His offended squawk was muffled by my hands. I grinned and kissed his forehead, then let go and entered the room to explore. He pouted and rubbed his reddened cheeks, still peeved, but followed anyway.

"Not gonna lose my cheeks," he grumbled under his breath. "Never ever."

I giggled to myself and took stock of the room. The room had an actual bed, a change from the futon we were used to. Whether or not it was a good change would depend on which was softer, the bed or our old futon. There was a cabinet on one side, and a smaller one beside the bed, but other than that the room was pretty plain. At least it had a window. This one overlooked the backyard too. The other room had a window pointed straight at the wooden fence surrounding the building.

"I'll take this one," I decided. It was for the sake of my sanity. If Naruto had to endure staring at a wall for a view everyday for the next six years, we would both quickly go insane.

"Wait, what? But the view in the other one is so much better, dattebayo! We could even look at the sky there!" I had to stop and look at him for a moment, even as he ranted abuse towards my new room. "This one's boring. And the fence is ugly too! You can't even see outside!"

"Naruto," I said, cutting off the rest of his tirade. He didn't even look out of breath. "Naruto, this is my room. We can't- I'm not- we're not sharing it, Naruto." I raised my hands in a helpless gesture. How do you explain to a child the intricacies of adulthood and how it related to children not sharing beds as they grew older? "We won't fit," I finished lamely.

"What- but-" He stared at me, eyes popping out of his head, as if someone had just taken his world and flipped it upside down. "But we've always slept together!" he protested, shock morphing into panic. He scanned the room, as if it would hold an explanation for the absurdity he couldn't process. The sun rose in the mornings, his hair was yellow, and the two of us slept together every night. It was a fact of the world, and he couldn't understand why it had changed. "You're- you're not mad at me, are you? Did I do something wrong? Is it coz I stink? I promise I'll take a bath every night, dattebayo!"

"Naruto!" I grabbed him by the shoulders, both to grab his attention and to keep him from rattling himself to pieces. "No, Naruto, I'm not mad at you! It's just- we can't keep sleeping together anymore! We're older now." I searched my mind for any way to explain this to him. "We're going to become ninja soon, and then we'll go on missions, and-" I stilled, my mind refusing to understand the words even as they passed through my lips. "We won't always be together, Naruto." I whispered, feeling the truth of the statement like a rock on my chest.

Every part of me screamed denial. I'd built everything I was in this world on the only focal point I had in it — on Naruto. The thought of being separated from him made my heart seize and my breath quicken in panic. Naruto's reaction was even worse. He shook his head, backing away from my loosened hands. "No… no, no, nonono _no! I don't wanna! I don't wanna!_" He stomped his foot, his cries turning into wails. He glared at me with watery eyes, and this time his tears were real. "I wanna stay with you, dattebayo! I wanna stay!"

"Shh, shh, I know, Naruto, I know," I hurried to say. It was our first day in our new home. The last thing we needed right now was someone complaining about the noise and getting us kicked out. "I'll still be here! And we'll still be living together. We just can't share beds anymore, okay? It's, it's just a part of growing up, dattebana."

Those words just made him cry harder. I winced, and moved forward to try and calm him down. But he refused to let me touch him. "Then I don't wanna grow up! I hate it, dattebayo, I hate it!" He took one look at my apologetic face and knew he hadn't won this one. His face reddened, and his eyes were indistinguishable through his tears. "_Fine!_" he shrieked. He stomped his foot one last time, then bolted out the door. A moment passed, then the door of the other bedroom slammed closed.

I sank to the ground, curling up with my arms around my knees and my head buried in between. My hair fell like a red curtain around my face. "I'm too young to be a mom," I groaned to myself.

Naruto wasn't the only one crying in his room.

* * *

When Naruto didn't come out two hours later, no matter what I did, I decided to do something about our gastronomic situation before stomachs started growling and children started starving.

In short, I was hungry.

More knocking and promises of food didn't lure my brother out of his room. I sighed and pressed my forehead against the door, trying to bleed the exhaustion weighing me down into the wood. Naruto was a child. He wasn't immune to tantrums. His first one ended with that oil-floor trap that sent Miyagawa-san crashing into a wall. But this was the first time he had gotten angry at me. And it was more taxing than it sounded.

"I'm going," I told the door, unable to keep the numbness in my heart from leaking into my voice. "I'll try to get back before it gets dark. I'm not sure where the grocery is yet. But there's food in the fridge if you get hungry." Two sandwiches — our last souvenir from the orphanage. Minoru-san was silent and fearful, but she was also fair when she tried. Miyagawa-san didn't even protest — she was too happy to see us go.

The door didn't answer. I pressed my hand against the wood, one more time, then pulled away. "See you." I turned away and trudged for the door.

Looking through the white envelope had showed me several 500 and 1,000 bills. A number on the front told me that it contained 60,000 ryo. A quick calculation told me that gave me roughly 2,000 ryo per day, and 14,000 a week, until our next allowance day. That didn't mean I had any idea how much things cost here in Konoha. I debated for a moment, before grabbing 2,000 and tucking the rest back into the envelope. I decided I would just buy a meal for myself and food for dinner for today, then figure out how to budget the rest of our money later. I also made a mental note to hide the bills throughout the apartment when I got home. Keeping them in one place was just asking for trouble, if anyone ever thought to break in.

I glanced back at Naruto's door one last time, sighed, and left the apartment, locking the door behind me. With the keys in my pocket and money in the other, I set out to explore the village I've read about but never actually seen in full — the legendary Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

It was hard to hold on to my glum mood as I walked through the streets filled with so many new things. Every other time I'd walked through Konoha, I had been busy making sure Naruto didn't run off without me to sightsee. Finally alone, I could take my time and look where I wanted to. My stomach churned at the thought of being without my brother, but there were plenty of people milling around, so I didn't feel so alone.

For a person stuck in a toddler's body, Konoha looked _huge. _I counted an average of three floors for the regular buildings I passed by, with five being the highest — most of which seemed geared as residential buildings, like our apartment. The smaller buildings looked like shops with apartments on top for the owners. The Hokage's building towered over all of them, looking like it totaled a whopping seven floors. Above us rose the Hokage monument, the four great heads watching over the village. Not very subtle, but considering the oldest Hashirama trees were tall enough to brush Hashirama's chin, it was doubtful anyone could see it from afar. Once they made it close enough to the village, the sky would be too filled with branches to see it anyway. Flying scouts would be a problem, but I was several years too young and a clearance level beyond zero to know how Konoha coped with that.

Konoha was big enough — or I was small enough — that I couldn't see the fourth head well from the street I was walking down. The angle was terrible — I got a nice shot of half his profile before the Sandaime's hair blocked the rest of his face. I spared all of three seconds trying to look for my second father's face before I had to return my gaze to earthly matters. Namely, trying not to bump into anyone.

Most of the people I saw were civilians, or at least had mostly-normal hair. I didn't see that many clan members that I recognized, which made sense once I remembered they had compounds of their own. Thinking of all those people stuck in one plot of land all day made me twitch. No wonder the Uchiha were so isolated, or the Hyuuga so haughty, or the civilians so clueless about actual ninja-ry. If everyone stuck to doing their own thing, then how on earth would anyone learn about anything beyond their own, narrow lives?

My first sight of ninja using ninjutsu in everyday life was a uniformed man walking out of a grocery. The telltale headband glimmered on his forehead, if the flak jacket wasn't telling enough. He waved goodbye to the grocer, then leaped for the roofs. It was as if he wasn't even carrying four bulging bags of groceries in both hands. He simply leaped for the side of the building, and from there for the roof, and out of sight. All in three seconds flat. Or less. I could barely see him move.

I looked after the man with jealousy. If I could roof hop, I would have a great view of the village, and might actually be able to find out where I was headed. As it was, I was stuck looking at buildings without any idea where I was going. There were a few convenience stores and restaurants around, but from the looks of it our apartment was deep in a residential area. Restaurants and convenience stores were fine, but I wanted to know where the market was. I had been raised on fresh produce in my previous life, and I wasn't going to stop now. The best part was, farming in this world would be more natural compared to my last one, considering the focus on developing arms more than agriculture. Hooray for all-natural products!

"Excuse me," I started, approaching a random lady holding a basket. She glanced up from her basket with a smile, but it fell once she set eyes on me. She turned pale, waved her hand in front of her face in a 'no', and scurried away. I looked after her in dismay, but shook my head. I had to expect that. Damn, did _everyone _in the village know?

I moved to another lady, this time two young girls gossiping as they left a shop. "Excuse me," I tried again, giving them my best innocent kid smile. "I'm a bit lost…"

"Oh, are you a clan kid? I haven't seen anyone with eyes like yours before…" Smiling, one of them knelt down to my level. "Where do you need to go?"

"Saki…" The other one tugged her up, her eyes wide in her small face. I felt my own smile falter.

"Chie, honestly-" Her partner whispered in her ear. The girl's own eyes went wide, and I knew my chance was gone. "Th-that is, I-" She glanced at me, then at her companion, and shook her head. "S-sorry, we have to go-" They fled, leaving me standing on my own in front of the small perfumery.

I tried to be patient, I really did. I walked up to men. I walked up to grandmas, and grandpas. I walked up to children, only to have parents pull them away and flee. Any ninja I could see took to the roofs before they even saw me. I guess no one liked walking through crowded streets much, which I totally related to, because if _one more _person looked at me like I was going to kill them all, I really _was _going to kill them all!

Or, maybe just kick a wall. I might even be strong enough to break it now. Homicidal jokes weren't as funny when you realize you're actually going to do it later.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I started looking around, trying to find someplace I could eat. More and more houses and apartments were appearing — meaning I was headed the wrong way. There should be a shopping district in Konoha, every city and town has one. And what shopping districts definitely did _not _have were an abundance of residential buildings.

I muttered an English curse under my breath and turned around, looking in vain for some sort of sign that would tell me where to go. Should I turn back, or should I keep going? At this rate, I was going to hit the village wall. But if I hit the village wall, I could at least circle around and find a main street that would hopefully lead me to the market…

Someone seemed to be looking out for me today, because turning around let me find just what I was looking for.

"Dango!" I said to myself, clapping with glee. It looked like a small restaurant, with tatami mats, low tables, and cushions for kneeling on. I've read about dango before, and I was looking forward to tasting it now. Maybe I could even get some for Naruto. I was not above bribery to get back in his good graces.

I jogged over, mindful of bumping into anyone as I crossed the street. I had yet to see any form of transportation. Looked like everyone just walked here.

There was a middle-aged lady greeting customers at the door. She had her hair bound up in a traditional bun to match her simple kimono. She was really pretty, in a homey sort of way. She looked like she would make the perfect mom. Beaming, I lined up behind a mother and child pair, waiting my turn to be seated.

Her customer-ready facade fell the moment she laid eyes on me. "We're full," she snapped, moving to block my way. I gaped, unable to process the unfairness of that statement.

"You're lying!" I waved at the mother and child taking a seat in one of the many empty tables. "There are only four people there!" Or six. I couldn't be sure, she was blocking the way.

"We don't serve children," was her rebuttal. She crossed her arms, making herself look even more imposing. Her motherly face was twisted in hatred and disgust.

"You're a _sweets _shop, and you're telling me you _don't serve children_?" I gave her my best incredulous and condescending look. It probably didn't look as impressive on a child. The lady certainly didn't look impressed. "You let that kid in!"

"We don't serve children without a guardian to accompany them," she insisted, her stance not relaxing at all. I could feel my face heating up as my temper rose. I fought to keep it down, knowing if I blew up now I would wreck any chances I had of getting dango, or any other food anywhere near here.

"I'll just pop in and out," I said, trying to keep my voice steady and reasonable. "I won't take long, I just want a take out-" The lady was already shaking her head before I even finished. I clenched my fist and tried to plead. "At least let me take some for my brother!" Her glare didn't lessen one bit. I exploded, curses bursting from my lips in a virulent mix of Konohan and English. "_Dammit _you _nasty old hag_, I have had enough of this _bullshit _all _fucking _day_—"_

Her face colored at the torrent of angry words. She might not have understood the meaning, but she certainly understood the intent. "Get out," she snarled. "I have tried to be polite, but you are making a _scene. _Don't make me call the police!"

"Go ahead!" I challenged, standing on my toes in a vain effort to meet her glare. "Then I'll tell them you refused to serve a girl that just wanted to buy some dango for her little brother, you—"

"Is something the matter, Isane-san?" A cool voice interrupted our fight, sparing me the effort of throwing mud at the lady in question. We turned to find a dark-haired girl in a dark sweater and loose shorts, her thoughts masked behind her impassive expression. A Konoha hitai-ate glinted on her forehead.

"U-Uchiha-san!" the lady stammered, her arms dropping to her sides. "F-forgive me, I didn't see you there-"

_Uchiha? _I did a double-take, taking in the wide, upturned collar and solid black eyes. So this was an Uchiha!

"Understandably." The girl nodded towards me, her expression not even twitching. "You seemed to be occupied."

The Uchiha were supposed to be police, right? I took my chances and rolled with it, before the saleslady could warp the girl's impression of me any further. "She won't let me in!" I cried, drowning out any protests the lady might have made. "I just wanted to get some dango for me and my brother, but then she-"

"The brat was making a scene!" Isane-san interrupted, her pale cheeks now flushed with color. "You saw what she was like, Uchiha-san, acting like a savage-"

"-said that they were full, which they _obviously aren't-_" I raised my voice. If there was one thing Naruto and I had in common, it was an impressive set of lungs when we put our mind to it.

"The customers would be scandalized! Our reputation will go down!" the lady argued, forging through when I took a breath.

"That's enough." The girl said it without any special inflection whatsoever, but the two of us shut up all the same. The lady was flushed and trembling with fury and embarrassment, while I was red with indignation. It said a lot about the Uchiha if a small teenager could have that much authority with a middle-aged civilian. Or was it because she was a ninja?

I kept a wary eye on the Uchiha, waiting for her verdict. Would she discriminate against me too?

"Isane-san. You say you do not want-" Here Uchiha-san paused, her eyes on me. I realized what she wanted after a few moments of staring.

"I'm Uzumaki Minako -ttebana!" I said as firmly as I could. It was distressing, understanding canon Naruto more and more. If they were going to kick me out on the streets they should at least remember my name!

Uchiha-san nodded, acknowledging my words. She turned back to the lady. "You do not want to let Uzumaki-san enter, in fear of turning away your other customers."

"Y-yes," the lady stammered, realizing she was waiting for an answer. "That's- that's true."

"Uzumaki-san." Uchiha-san settled her dark eyes on me. I was surprised to discover I found the action… comforting. My old life had been filled with dark-eyed people. None of them had eyes as dark as the Uchiha's, of course. But still, it was something familiar in a place filled with light browns, greens, and blues. It was stupid, but… I felt better anyway. "You simply wish to purchase food for you and your brother. Correct?"

"Yeah!" I nodded, unable to help the little flash of hope in my chest. If she was listing our arguments like that, then maybe, just maybe… she would be fair?

"Then it would be no problem if I collected her purchases in her stead?" Uchiha-san asked the saleslady. The lady froze, her mouth working as she tried to find a way to refuse her without… well, refusing her. She was an Uchiha, after all. I could feel my smile growing as I watched.

"Of… of course, Uchiha-san." The lady's eyes flickered between the Uchiha and me. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she made the smart decision and bowed, stepping aside for Uchiha-san. Uchiha-san turned to me, her gaze as impassive as ever.

"Will two orders of dango be enough?" she asked. My eyes widened.

"Ah- y-yeah! Wait-" I dug around my pockets, until I came up with one 500 ryo bill. "Will this be enough?"

Her movements were smooth, but precise. It was the kind of elegance that made you want to stare but also sent a shiver down your spine. She nodded, took the bill, and entered the establishment, the half-curtains over the entrance swishing behind her.

The moment Uchiha-san disappeared, the saleslady turned back to me. Her pretty face was gone, an ugly grimace erasing any illusion of kindness. "You should be ashamed of yourself," she hissed, "Imposing on Uchiha-san like that!"

"At least she was willing to help!" I shot back. Her face went through a funny set of contortions as she spluttered. I sneered. "It's good to know there are still _some _decent people left in this world."

"You're a demon," the lady spat, recoiling from me like I was diseased. "You don't _deserve_ any decency."

That hurt more than it should. I flinched back, my tough act faltering for a moment. I wasn't a demon, and I _did _deserve decency! I deserved it, just like anybody else! How _could _she?

Uchiha-san returned before things got ugly. "Here." She eyed the saleslady but said nothing, handing a white plastic bag to me. I muttered thanks as I checked the contents. Two boxes of what I presumed to be dango lay inside, with the change nesting on top. The numbers blurred in my vision. I rubbed my eyes and gave up on counting them.

"I apologize for the bother, Uchiha-san. I won't let it happen again," the lady was saying. Her glare in my direction made it very clear how exactly she intended to do that. Uchiha-san said nothing, her eyes focused only on me.

_You should be ashamed of yourself, imposing on Uchiha-san like that!_

I ducked my head, unable to meet her gaze. Both hands wrapped around my prize, I bowed as low as I dared, letting my hair shield my face. "Thank you very much, nee-san!" I said, with all the sincerity I could muster. I couldn't bear to look up and see what her expression was like, so I turned and fled. _I am never going back there again, _I vowed to myself, my little feet scuffing dirt into the air as I ran. I made sure to remember to tell Naruto not to go there either.

If this was how they treated his sister… how much worse would they treat _him?_

* * *

Heading away from the village walls and towards the center of the village was a smart move. Gravitating towards the center of government in the village was an even smarter move. The main road leading from the village gate to the Hokage Tower was _lined _with shops. Food, clothes, books, and so much more were sold along the road. Bright banners and cheerful cries gave the lane a festive atmosphere. Even the smell was inviting — the musty smell of new clothes, the intoxicating mix of human smells from all over the world, and of course, the ever magical smell of food.

Logic dictated that the shops here would also be the more expensive kind, but I was so relieved to see friendly — heck, even just _polite_ — faces that I didn't feel any inclination to leave. Hashirama Road was home to the merchants that visited Konoha to sell and trade their goods. None of them knew the significance of my eye marks, and only one recognized my Uzumaki-red hair. Among them, I could act like the child I was supposed to be, and I could give up the rage and frustration I needed for other adults in the face of their kind and respectful behavior. It was thrilling to be treated like a minor clan child for my tattoos too, sometimes. I probably didn't look like any they knew, but people preferred to be safe rather than sorry. Several probably guessed I was an orphan, but that only made them nicer, not meaner. I won more over when I showed a hidden talent for haggling.

It was not my first time at a market, after all.

"B-but… I've only got eighty ryo left," I stammered, my eyes plastered to a cute pink sling bag. It was small, meant for money and a few precious items, and shut with a drawstring. Someone had taken the care to stitch a pretty sunflower on the front. A tag hanging from the frog keychain priced it at 120 ryo. "I worked so hard…" I bit my lip.

"W-well…" The salesperson glanced at the small frog purse already in my hand and scratched his head. "I'm sure you did…" He glanced around, then leaned close and whispered to me. "Okay, since you already bought your brother's purse, I can get you the bag for just eighty ryo. But don't tell anyone, okay?" He winked at me, green eyes sparkling. "It'll be our little secret."

I let my face brighten with hope, my own eyes going wide and my smile spreading across my cheeks. "Y-yeah! Thanks mister!"

"Not so fast." A hand descended upon the boy's head, almost sending him crashing to the ground as it grabbed him by the hair.

"Ow ow ow! Nee-chan!" he yelped, grabbing her wrist in an effort to save his hair. The lady in question peered at me, a small quirk to her ruby-red lips.

"Nice try, kiddo. But I saw you hand a 500 ryo bill to Hisane over there, and that dress was only 300 ryo at the most." She crooked two well manicured fingers at me. "Come on, fork it over."

I pouted, busted. The boy gaped at me in shock and betrayal, which almost made me giggle. "Ninety," I demanded, letting my chin jut out in its most stubborn pose.

Her lips twitched. "A hundred, for being a clever brat," she countered. "That's final."

I basked in that, more than I should have.

By the time I finished shopping and exploring, the sun was setting and the merchants were closing their stalls for the day. I didn't even realize how late it was until the fat lady selling me dumplings patted my head and said, "Run along home now. Wouldn't want your parents to worry."

"Oh no," I breathed. I bowed and fled, yelling thanks over my shoulder.

I thought I knew where I was going, but as the light faded and the darkness came in, the streets just became more and more unfamiliar. I hurried along, my arms burdened by spoils, too scared to ask directions from people who would be braver in the dark than they were in the day. I had wandered far enough from the shopping areas that there weren't many people wandering the streets anymore. Who strolled the residential area at sundown?

I could feel my breath start to hitch at the thought of empty roads and nothing but darkness to keep me company. It was late enough that people were starting to open the lights, but early enough that the moon wasn't even out yet. I kept my eyes on the ground, fighting the urge to look up in the sky for fear of seeing a monster staring back. Soon anything that would point my way home would disappear in the shadows descending on the streets.

My throat choked up at the thought. I shouldn't have stayed out so late. I shouldn't have wandered so far. I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have—

I perked up when I heard the sound of music and laughter in the distance. The thought of company spurred me on where terror threatened to paralyze me. I turned my mind to other things, worries that I could actually do something about. Like how I was going to get home. Like how scared Naruto must be, wondering where I'd gone and where I would be back. Like how I would make up for the promise I'd broken, and hug him extra hard when I returned.

Bright light bathed my face and pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up, hope filling my chest until it felt like I would choke with it. All I needed was someone who would stop long enough to talk to me and show me the way home. I still had the apartment address in my pocket — a forgotten blessing. My only wish was for someone, anyone, who wouldn't care about the demon fox and just see a little girl lost and alone in the dark.

I should have remembered instead what kind of establishments made that kind of noise when the sun goes down.

I froze at the entrance of the street. A willow tree bowed over the road, its long branches trailing like women's hair. Beyond it, red lanterns glittered in the night, bonfires lighting what they couldn't. People walked through the street, dressed in bright colors and loose clothes… in more ways than one. Geisha with heavily painted faces strolled along, weaving a path through the chaotic river of life. Men with abs that would make my old friends cry showed off their wares in open happi coats. Sound rose and fell as melody interwove with chatter and giggles.

I didn't realize I was backing away until my back bumped into something hard. I croaked, too shocked to scream, and whirled around. A woman — or a man, I didn't know — with a thick jaw and even thicker face paint cooed at me. Her shadowed eyes looked monstrous in the flickering lights of the fires in the distance. "Aww, honey, are you lost?" I shook my head, mute with terror. She reached out and clicked her tongue, her finger brushing the corner of my eye before I jerked my head away. "Who's your matron? I'll help you get back. Those are a lot of bags, aren't they?"

Her words registered in my head faster than the hand that reached for mine. I threw myself at the gap between her arms and her legs, fear and imagined futures giving me flight that pushed me faster than clubs and torches ever could. I barely even felt it when I crashed into another pair of legs. I just took a deep breath and shoved my way forward, away from the lights, away from memories of stories of little kids disappearing in the night, away from fire and broomsticks and screaming and _pain—_

But there was no crowd around me. No riots. No people. Just me, alone in the dark, panting in an alley with nothing but rats running away for company. I collapsed on the ground and burst into tears, burying my face in the plastic bag that held the meager possessions I had managed to obtain that day. It was too much, just too much. I was stressed, I was afraid, I was hated by everyone and they didn't even know my name. I had been this close to becoming a child prostitute, and my brother was trapped in an apartment he couldn't leave because he didn't know where I was.

I want to go home. I want to go home, I want to go home…

_"I want to go home,_" I croaked into the plastic bag, tears bathing Naruto's new Gama-chan with an unhealthy amount of saltwater. It made his skin look mottled with spots, like a miscolored poison frog.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home to where I wasn't a child, where I was a teenager who let her parents take care of her, where my biggest worry was the paper I had due the next day and people didn't glare at me like I had the plague when I passed by. I wanted my mom. I wanted my dad. I wanted the brother who would roll his eyes when I demanded hugs and ignored me until I resorted to smacking his elbow for kisses.

I was scared. I was miserable. I was _alone._

**_(DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE-!)_**

A small growl filled the silence of the empty alley. I shivered, and shuffled further into my corner. I had nothing to defend myself with. If a dog wanted to fight over its possession of the alley, then they were going to find my dead body in the morning. I tried to think of Naruto, of his crying face, or his smiling face, in an effort to get some motivation in me, but it slipped away like water through my fingers. Why did it matter? Why did this all matter? He would be fine without me. He'll grow up into a proper chakra monster, with proper superpowered friends, save the fucking world, and everybody will love him. Not like me. I didn't matter. For all I knew, this was just a dream, and I was actually locked up in an asylum screaming crazy words and trying to Rasengan all the doctors.

The growl sounded again, much closer this time. Suddenly, I felt pissed. A dog? Seriously? When I was feeling fucked up enough, and the day felt like a goddamn migraine sent by Satan, he sends me a _dog? _I raised my head, glaring with all my might at the shadows hiding the animal from sight. Goddammit, couldn't I even mope in _peace?_

Something glinted in the dark. The dog growled again, and moved forward… revealing a tiny pug with a hitai-ate over its head. In its mouth was the lumpy shape of a drawstring purse, its handle trailing behind it as it walked.

"…Oh," I whispered. All the fight left me, until I sank the few inches left between my butt and the ground. "That's mine," I said stupidly. It must have fallen when I bumped into that person while I was running away. Something told me I would have known who that person was if I had bothered looking up.

The pug whuffled, nosing at my shin until I started scratching it between the ears. I felt a smile tug at my lips, only for it to wobble, then fall apart. I sniffed, and then tears were pouring down my face and I was bawling onto Gama-chan. Again.

The plastic bag got decidedly violent and started shaking in my arms. I raised my head, my grip on the bag loosening. A determined dog nosed its way past the bag, shoving it aside, and squirmed until I hugged it instead. Then it started licking my face. The tears just poured faster at that, but it didn't stop licking.

"I don't know why you bother," I told the pug, trying to sound coherent around the huge block of snot up my nose and the dog kisses it was showering on my face. "I doubt I taste anything near appealing."

It huffed, like it agreed, but kept licking anyway. I scratched its ears and buried my face in its tiny shoulder.

I've never had a dog. Just a guard dog. She was big enough to reach my nose with hers with both of us standing, and her claws hurt. She was an affectionate dog. I was just never encouraged to play with her. She ended up trapped in our backyard. It made me feel bad when I thought about it, so I tried not to think about it. She had puppies once, but we had to give them all away. I was very sad.

What that basically meant was that I'd never experienced hugging, or being hugged by, a dog. When I cried in my old life, I cried into a ratty old teddy bear, held together by nothing but love and stitches. I read somewhere that pets were good for being there for you when you had nobody else, but my mother refused to have pets inside the house, and I died before I could live the dream of having an apartment with just a cat for company.

It felt good to be comforted, even if it was just a dog.

My sobs turned to hiccups, then sniffles. Kakashi's dog — because it _was _Kakashi's dog; what other pug would have a hitai-ate and a tiny dog vest? — snuffled, then sneezed. I'd like to think it was in approval.

"Sorry for crying on you," I told it, giving its ear a soft scratch. It barked once, then butted my cheek until I found the right spot. "Thanks though. You're a very nice dog." The look it gave me screamed, _damn _right was he a nice dog, and maybe a hint of, the things he did for children… but that might be me projecting. I petted him anyway. "Good doggy." It huffed. "Now if only I could find the way home…"

The dog stilled. It cocked its head, like it was listening. I looked up, trying to see what had grabbed its attention. "What is it- _hey!_" It barked, then bolted from my arms, snatching the purse it had dropped along the way. Without really thinking, I grabbed my bags and ran after it, trying to keep it in sight. It was much, _much _faster than it looked. Goddamn ninja dogs. "Wait! Give that back!"

At that time, I was too busy running after it to realize how well the pug knew what it was doing. Oh, I knew it was leading me by the nose with a carrot on a stick three minutes into the chase. But it was only later when I realized how it always stayed _just _in my line of sight. Even when I had to stop to catch my breath, or ran at a fraction of my best speed, so soon after fleeing the red light district, it was always there when I looked up and started running again. It led me through side streets and alleyways that kept me out of sight and away from crowds. It kept me running fast enough not to question where we were going, or where it was taking me.

It led me past the willow tree that I'd run from and back to the road leading to the market. I expected it to follow the path I had taken all day, which made sense if it was finding the way by tracking my scent. But before we reached the main street, it changed direction and started going down a street I was _sure _I hadn't been through before.

"Wait! This isn't the right way-" I clamped my mouth shut before I did something stupid, like slip on some litterer's chocolate wrapping. The dog shot me an unimpressed look, as if daring me to tell it _just _exactly where the right way was, considering I knew it well enough to get _lost._

It was a struggle to keep track of the dog, where I was going, and look around at the same time. Anyone else looking would probably think I was trying to find something familiar in the streets we were going through, but I was more concerned with looking for white hair on the roof.

Hey, the dog had a _hitai-ate_. It was going someplace I hadn't gone through, so it wasn't tracking me. The only logical explanation left was that it belonged to someone, and someone was _leading _it that way. Pretty sure even a kid could figure that out.

I shouldn't have bothered though. After all, we were talking about ninja here. If Kakashi didn't want to be seen, then he _wasn't _going to be seen.

I didn't realize we were at the apartment building already until the dog barked. I almost skidded right past it.

"That's-" I gasped, trying to catch my breath and talk at the same time. Even if I knew it was leading me away… seeing the building, actually _being _there, right in front of it… I was so relieved I almost cried. "We made it!" I turned back towards the dog, my lips stretching into a grin so wide it hurt. Except the dog was gone, and there was just a purse on the ground, damp with spit and streaked with dirt. Funny how I didn't mind at all.

I looked around, searching for any sign of the dog or its owner. Not a hint of white or metal-and-travel-dust. Not even the smell of wet fur or the feeling of lazy, warm dog piles was left behind. Goes to show that tracker teams knew how to cover their tracks.

The awful pun made me giggle, even as I reached down and picked up the purse. If it was touched with a bit of relief and hysteria, well, there was nobody around to notice.

Then I turned around and bolted for our rooms.

I barely got the door unlocked and open before I was covered in blubbering, weeping, clingy toddler. "You're- you're back! You came back, you came back, I thought you w-wouldn't, I'm s-s-sorryyyy…!" Bags dropped to the floor as I threw my arms around my brother, crying as well. At this rate my tear ducts were going to get more exercise than I did running back here.

"I'm sorry, I got lost, I shouldn't have stayed out so late, I'm sorry…" Comforting him was a lot harder than I thought it would be with my face buried in his shoulder.

"I thought you l-left me," Naruto wailed, almost strangling me in his desperate hug. "I th-thought y-you w-weren't c-c-coming b-baaack!"

Shock flooded me, enough to give me the strength to pull back when all I wanted was to plaster myself all over him. "What- No!" I grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to look at me. "I wouldn't- I would never- Naruto!" He looked. His eyes were red and puffy, tears and snot streaming down his face. The mix of relief and terror in his face was _heartbreaking. _"Naruto. I would _never _leave you behind. _Never._ Do you understand?"

His lip wobbled. "I thought you were mad at me," he whispered.

I shook him a little, trying to show how serious I was. "Even if I'm mad at you. Even if we're apart, even if we have to go different ways, I would _never. Ever. Leave you._" I shook him again, trying to blink away tears that were blocking my view. "I'll always come back. You hear me? _Always._"

Naruto looked at me, his eyes as wide as they would go while swollen with tears. "Promise?" he begged.

I threw my arms around him, holding him so tight it felt like he was going to leave a bruise on my heart. I wanted to hold him close until he would fill the empty spaces inside, and I would fill his. Hatred didn't matter; hostility didn't matter. If other people rejected us, we would be fine because we would be together. "I promise, dattebana," I told him. "_I swear._"

That night, I took one look at the shadows around my bed and at the moon shining through the window and quit. Bless Naruto, he didn't say anything at all when I crawled into his bed faster than you could say "Achoo!". From the bright blue eyes staring at me from the dark, it looked like he hadn't been trying to sleep either. He just shuffled over and reached out with his hand, weaving his fingers through mine. We curled around each other, me with my head under his chin and our legs tangled under the covers.

We fell asleep.

* * *

A/N:

Apparently I cannot write a single RWTBD chapter without angst and _I am screaming._

I'm moving my author's notes to my writing blog because I keep getting the urge to type and type and keep on typing. So please skeddadle onto tumblr, fleeting-white-feathers is my writing url, or you can follow the link on my profile (are the links even fixed yet?)

Guest: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. As for Molotovs, I've been on Tumblr for five years and never found out how until now. Thanks for the info! ;D

SOOOOO I differentiated 'dattebayo' and 'believe it!'. Oh, what a crime, what a sin against mankind! No, but hear me out! 'Believe it!' never sounded like a verbal tic to me, because verbal tic implies that it's unconscious or unwilling (see: poor Minako's struggle with 'dattebana'.). When I imagine Naruto saying 'believe it!', I think the reason he keeps saying it is because, well, nobody ever believed in him. Awww. Cue sad music. So he ended up saying it out of near-reflex just to convince everyone to _freaking believe him. _And yes, I know the English dubbers put that in just to have something to replace 'dattebayo'. But still, it doesn't feel the same without Naruto telling people to believe in him, so, there you go!

Also.

Hey guys! Guess what I suck at the most!

_Budgeting. _( / ` A )/ Fuck Konohan economy, I simply cannot compute prices with numbers that high. Especially D ranks — D ranks look like they're _made _for everyone to use, civilian, noble, or ninja, but how can anyone afford them if the pay is that fucking high? And if someone yells INFLATION at me, I will throw pancakes at you. Believe me, I will!

I'll put my actual thoughts on the Konoha economy in another post. For now… did anyone notice the odd look the shopkeeper gave Minako? Hehehehehe. :D


	6. VI

"Wow," Naruto breathed, for once quiet with wonder as we gazed upon our new home-away-from-home for the next six years.

"Wow," I agreed, feeling less than impressed at the tall, red-roofed building that was giving me a crick in the neck.

The Ninja Academy. The source of Konoha's military force. A building filled with a hundred titchy menaces called children armed with sticks, stones, and the power to grind both into dust. The place where it all began.

Or _will _begin.

I swallowed, feeling a sudden, invisible weight descending on my shoulders. I moved automatically with the crowd, our future schoolmates moving ahead and stuttering into motion behind us. I could hear a few getting last-minute freak outs and clingy episodes with their parents further back.

This was it. We're headed for the Academy, the Plot was going to start rolling, I'd been in this world for six years and I had _no idea what I'm going to do._

_Maybe I should just run away, _I thought, feeling mildly hysterical. _Or jump off a cliff and hope this dream will end._

A hand slipped between my fingers. "Minako?" I looked to my side to see big blue eyes staring at me in puzzlement.

No. Even if this was a dream, there was no way I could leave Naruto. Figuratively _or_ literally. I squeezed his hand and gave him a smile. "Sorry. Come on, I know you're excited." I tugged him forward. He dug his feet in and pouted mulishly.

"You're not." He pointed out. Oh god. He's going to grow up into either a Captain Obvious or a smartass. I wasn't sure which one I liked better.

"I'm just nervous, that's all." I lied, shrugging a few stray strands of red hair off my shoulders. Naruto's eyes were still narrowed in suspicion, but at least he went along. I glanced over my shoulder at the rest of the orphan children entering ninja school this year. I hadn't seen them in a while, but I did recognize a few. Most of them were still reluctant to leave Minoru-san's side- even the impatient-looking ones stayed fidgeting near the edge of the group.

I turned away from them. "Let's just get this over with, yeah?" I turned in front of Naruto and started walking backwards, pulling him along. His reluctance was obvious, but at least he was moving. I beamed, trying to make up for killing his mood. It's the first day of the ninja equivalent of grade school; he should have some good memories of that at the very least. "Who knows, we might even get to make new friends today!"

Naruto's face brightened at that. "Yeah!" He broke into a run, tugging me along behind him. I couldn't help the small giggle that burst forth. My good mood lasted until a pair of mothers caught my eye and immediately began to whisper amongst themselves with horrified looks. My smile fell.

I took one look at Naruto's bright, hopeful eyes and sighed. I could only hope that the teachers here wouldn't treat him as badly as the civilians did. The glares from the times we dared to venture outside of our home were bad enough. Now we had teachers, who could easily sabotage our education and ensure we ended up dead in a ditch in the future. I didn't want Naruto's hopes to be crushed on making a new friend either. Children could be cruel, especially if they were raised to be that way.

I let myself be led away, lost in my own thoughts.

* * *

Two minutes into class I was struggling not to panic. I was in the Academy, on my first day of class, and I was going to learn how to murder people or die, while juggling the fate of the world and trying not to fuck shit up by doing something as simple as tripping over Sasuke and later end up giving him an insecurity complex over his agility. It would sound hilarious in hindsight, but it didn't sound very funny to me then, as I hyperventilated at the classroom door.

Where was Naruto? Naruto was always the one who helped me knock myself out of things like this, sometimes before they even started. Just a sunny smile, and I could convince myself that everything was going to be alright, and I was going to make sure of it, _dammit_. Why did he have to be assigned into a different class?

_Small steps_, I told myself, gasping. _Small steps. Just get through the first day of school. Don't think about killing people, or changing the future, or anything. Just step through that door, and finish the first day of school._

I shuffled a foot forward. It moved an inch. I whimpered.

"Hey! Move it!" Something bumped into me hard, throwing me into the room and to the side. I collapsed on the ground and wheezed, doing my best not to kiss dirt and breathe air at the same time. "Slowpoke. What, you gonna cry for your mommy now, Carrot Head?"

_Carrot Head? Really? At least it's not something like Tomato Face, _is what I would have liked to say, except I was too busy trying to catch my breath. At least whoever the brat was knocked me out of my panic attack.

I settled for glaring at him instead. I caught a flash of spiky dark hair and brown eyes (hmph, side character) before he yelped and ducked behind the girl beside him. The girl in turn shrieked, brown pigtails bouncing as she pointed at me and cried out.

"What's with your _face_?"

My hand slapped over said face before I could even think, as if fingers over one eye would hide the black markings snaking around both. Already I could see children craning their necks behind the main group in front, trying to see what all the fuss was about. At least four kids had a direct view in front of me, making me squirm.

"They're clan markings," I blurted out. Oh god, me and my stupid mouth. I swear I wasn't this impulsive before I was reborn. Apparently being a loudmouth _is _inheritable.

"No way. No clan has markings like that." Another girl piped up from beside Pigtails. She had pale green hair and light blue eyes. I squinted. Whether she was from a clan or a civilian was up in the air. Stupid Naruto world aesthetics.

"She's lying! I've seen her around the orphanage!" yelled a very helpful voice from the back. "You don't have a clan if you're from the orphanage!"

"That's because they're all dead! Duh." I rolled my eyes. The kids sucked in a collective gasp at my retort.

"Really?" Cabbage Head's bottom lip wobbled. Her eyes were wide at the thought.

"So what's your clan?" Spiky asked suspiciously.

"Can't you tell? I'm from the Uzumaki clan!" I waved my arms around, trying to buy time to think. Fast.

I knew jack shit about the Uzumaki clan. I was _supposed _to know jack shit about the Uzumaki clan. If anyone overheard and decided I knew more than I should, I would be dead dead _dead meat!_

"I've never heard of your clan," said Spiky with all the disdain of a six year old. Panic morphed to anger and indignation at the willing volunteer for an outlet for my anxiety. What right did any brat have to look down on me?!

"We are so totally a clan!" I exploded, leaping to my feet. I could feel my face flaring with my fury, turning me as red as the hair that got me labeled Carrot Head. "Everyone got killed and we had to run away so now they're pretending we don't exist so we're safe but one day they're gonna come back and they're gonna make me a princess _so there_!" I ended my rant with a gasp for breath, a stomp of my feet... And promptly burst into tears.

Shame and horror at my rant only made the my wails turn louder. Freaking _kid_ hormones! Behavior! Mindset! Whatever! I was a fully grown adult at a mental age of twenty four, and this was _the worst time_ to turn out to be a crybaby!

"Hey guys, what's the hold up?" A dark red head appeared above all the little kiddie heads by the floor. He took one look at me and frowned. "Hey, now, don't cry! Bullying already, kids? Come on, at least wait for after the first day of school!"

Metal glinted on his forehead. My eyes widened. _Shit, the teacher!_

"She said her weird face is coz of clan markings. But everybody knows orphanage kids don't have a clan." Spiky pointed at me, the skepticism clear in his voice.

"She said her clan was all dead, that's why she's in the orphanage!" Cabbage Head argued in my defense. Which was… wow, okay, thanks, really nice of her, but not when she just _brought up my load of fish droppings made of lies!_

Sensei tilted his head, studying me closely. I bit my lip and glared at him head on, bracing myself for the inevitable denial. It was the perfect opportunity to bring one of the Demon Twins down another peg, of course he would. Well, who cares? At least _I _knew that I was telling the truth! Even if I wasn't supposed to know the truth…

Snot threatened to drip down my nose. I sniffed, hard, and wiped my eyes, before returning to my heated glaring.

Sensei shrugged, an easy roll of green-covered shoulders. "Who knows? It could be true. There are a lot of clans out there that even I don't know of." He wove his way through the crowd of little monsters and into the room. "Now, are you all coming in or am I gonna have to call the Hokage and say you all don't wanna be a ninja anymore?"

"Nooooooo!" Dozens of voices shrieked, and then everyone was rushing to make their way into the room. I was left gaping after the teacher on the floor.

"Well?" He blinked, and started rubbing his ear. "Are you gonna stay there all day, clan kid?" He smiled at me.

He smiled. _At me._

"N-no!" I stammered, feeling my face burn to my ears. I turned and bolted for the nearest empty chair I could find. I could still feel him smiling at me as I sat, before he turned to the board and started writing his name.

I covered my face with my hands and stared at my table. In the background I could hear Hiro-sensei introducing himself. I was too busy to wrap my mind around the fact that an adult had just been _nice to me._

Adults being nice? To me and Naruto? Didn't happen. It was nice to dream about actual friends from within the closed walls of the orphanage, but reality was a lot more disappointing. Few were outright mean like Miyagawa-san, but everyone had their own ways of dealing with us. Some went the way of Minoru-san and acted like terrified mice the moment we popped up. Some just glared at us and avoided us completely. But no one was ever _nice_.

I peeked up at Hiro-sensei in time to catch him in a wide grin. Heat flared through my cheeks again. I buried my face in my arms.

Maybe... Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

The moment we were let out of class for lunch I bolted into the Academy outdoor area to find Naruto. The backyard was as big as two classrooms with a flower field on the side and enough trees surrounding it to sate a monkey. The open space continued beyond my line of sight, circling the Academy building. I could see a hint of cleared earth that had a few of the older kids sparring in the distance. I looked around, trying to find a familiar mop of blond hair — which was harder than I thought it would be, since blond apparently wasn't as rare as the anime made it seem to be.

I gave up and decided to wait for Naruto to find me instead. _My _hair definitely stood out a lot better.

I headed for the flower field because it was on a hill and thus would make me easier to see. Not to mention all those colors would clash with my hair. Only a couple of kids were playing here, which made it even better to avoid any leftover curious children from the fiasco this morning. Looked like everyone else preferred the open space of the lawn to play.

I looked at the two kids in the field and thought of the teacher who has smiled at me this morning. I thought of Miyagawa-san, Minoru-san, the orphanage kids... Then I thought of Hiro-sensei, who looked at me and gave me a smile.

I took a deep breath, and walked towards the field.

I eased my way between the flowers, wary of crushing one or getting pricked by another. The girl I was trying to approach looked up at the noise. I stared. She stared back.

Misty gray eyes, and a disturbing lack of pupils. Oh.

"Hi," I squeaked, and immediately regretted it when she flinched. "Sorry!"

"N-no, it's... um..." She bowed her head and fiddled with the flowers in her hand. Her flush was stark against her pale skin. I blinked. Was it hereditary or had she just never seen the light of day?

Hopefully not the latter.

I smiled, trying to make her more comfortable. "Let's try that again. Hi!" I waved at her. "I'm Uzumaki Minako."

"U-um..." That stutter was going to make me stutter, seriously. "W-we're in the s-s-same c-class..."

"Uh... Oops?" This was going just peachy. Social norms, what social norms? I was a teenager, old lady, whatever, reincarnated in a kiddy body shunned by society. What did I know of social norms? "Sorry, uh, guess I wasn't paying attention. What's your name?"

"H-hyuuga. Hinata." She said it like she was spitting the words out before she choked on them. I spared her a moment of sympathy. Then my mind caught up with her words. I did a double take.

Misty gray eyes, and a disturbing lack of pupils. Oh.

Black hair and full bangs. _Oh._

"Oh." I repeated out loud, looking at her with wonder. Oh my god, chibi-Hinata was _adorable. _All pink chubby cheeks and big round eyes. _Ohh._

Hinata's face fell. She returned her gaze to her flowers, turning them over and over in her hands.

"Wait, why do you look sad?" I yelped, and flailed a bit, wanting to touch her but not sure if I could. "Don't be sad, uh, I don't know what I did, I'm sorry!"

She made a tiny little "eep!" and jerked back, clutching the flowers to her chest. I squeaked and yanked my hands back, trying not to scare her. We stared at each other, blue eyes at empty gray.

Slowly, so she didn't startle, I raised my hands in the universal sign of harmless. "Please don't be scared. I'm not scary, promise." I wracked my brains on a way to gain her trust. What would a kid do? What would Naruto do?

...well.

"Want to be friends?" Hinata jumped, before staring at me like I had just pulled a cupcake out of thin air and was now offering her a bite. It was disturbingly similar to the face Naruto would make whenever one of the orphanage kids spoke to him first.

"F-friends...?" she asked, in the softest voice I'd heard from her yet.

I made my decision.

"Yep! Friends!" I declared, flopping onto the flowers beside her. _Crunch, _went about half a dozen. Oops.

She jumped, but it wasn't as bad as before. She stared at me from under her bangs. I watched in avid fascination as her lips slowly stretched into a tiny smile.

She had a dimple on one cheek. Oh_ no._

"I'd… I'd like that," she whispered, poking her fingers together. She looked at me with a tiny, tentative smile on her cute face, and surrounded by flowers of different kinds.

Uzumaki Minako. Dead by cuteness.

"So! Hinata-chan." She jumped again - gonna have to fix that sooner or later - but if the widening smile on her face was any indication, it was more out of surprise than fear. I beamed back. "Whatcha doing?"

"Oh. Um." She looked at the flowers in her hands. "I'm c-collecting f-flowers."

"Really? That's so cool!" I clapped in enthusiasm. My wide grin was starting to hurt my cheeks, but in the name of childhood friends and trust it had to be done. Hopefully I didn't look as demented as I felt. "So you can tell which ones are those?"

"Y-yes." She ducked her head. "Okaa-sama t-taught m-me."

"Really? She sounds like a great mom!" Wait, did I say "really" twice?

"Yes." Her shoulders rose to cover her ears. "Sh-she was."

I opened my mouth and closed it a couple of times, trying to think of what to say to that. Awwwkwaaard. I wracked my mind for something else to say before the silence settled and we would be left staring at the flowers and wishing desperately for the bell to ring and lunch to end. "I don't know my mom," I offered. "Never met her." This mom, at least. I felt a pang at the thought of my old one, and hurriedly pushed it away. I'd done my wallowing. Mom was gone, and so was the rest of my old family and my old life. Gone. Dead. Kapoof. End of story.

"I-I'm s-sorry…" Hinata mumbled, looking just as dismayed as I felt bringing her mom up. I flailed again, trying to wipe the look off her face and get her shy smile back. Dear god, spare me from teary-eyed babies that look like the incarnation of marshmallows and fluffy bunnies.

"It's not that bad!" I said hastily. "I've got a brother. We take care of each other! That's as good as having a mom, I think."

Hinata perked up at the mention of a sibling. Thank god. "I h-have a l-little s-sister t-too," she said. "Her n-name is H-Hanabi-chan."

"That's great!" I said, much more sincerely this time. I smiled at the thought of a mini-chibi-Hinata (oh god, this wasn't going to turn into Sailor Moon, was it), except with narrower eyes, because I kind of remembered something about a stone-faced Hyuuga brat. "Siblings are the best."

"Y-y-yes. Th-they are." Hinata smiled at her fingers, her widest yet.

I tilted my head to the side, studying her pink cheeks and the eyes hidden by her bangs. "You know, Hinata-chan? You should smile more. It's really cute."

"E-eehh?!" Her squeak broke off into a wheeze. Red rose up her cheeks until it flooded her whole face. She swayed in her seat.

I felt the blood rush from my face as I hurried to catch her. "Wait, wait, don't faint! Don't faint!"

In the end I didn't get to meet Naruto during break time. I would have spent the hour worrying, but thankfully trying to hold a conversation with Hinata was enough to keep me occupied. I managed to keep her smiling all the way to the classroom, and we even managed to sit together the rest of the day. That was accomplishment enough for me.

That was probably the first time I didn't freak about Naruto when I couldn't find him in sight.

* * *

"So how are you getting home?" I asked Hinata, hanging back from the masses of children rushing for the door. "Maybe we can walk home together?"

"U-um... H-Hikane-s-san is p-picking me up." She pointed at a young lady standing stiffly in the distance, her face as blank as a sheet of paper. Low bangs hid any hint of the Caged Bird Seal from plain eye, though a ribbon tied around her hair gave me a clue.

"Aww." I pouted at Hinata, then grinned, letting her know I was kidding. She smiled hesitantly back. "Maybe next time, then?"

"Y-yeah!" She beamed, a small flash of pure happiness, and my face responded in kind. It was getting easier to smile back at Hinata now. The poor thing was like a little sunflower starving without sun. Just smile at her a little and she bloomed into wondering joy.

Kind of like Naruto, really. Maybe that was why it was easier for me to hang around her than with the other kids. She was much easier to please.

"See you tomorrow!" I waved cheerfully as she pulled away towards her fetcher.

"S-see you!" She waved back, her smile not fading even as she walked away.

My eyes met her fetcher's over her head. The Hyuuga's eyes narrowed slightly, but it was enough for me to feel her distaste even from this far away. My smile faltered.

"Min'ko, Min'ko! Where've you been? I've been looking all over, dattebayo!" A huge weight crashed into my back, literally knocking me out of my train of thought. Only copious amounts of flailing and yelping managed to save me from falling flat on my face. It didn't knock Naruto's enthusiasm down a peg, however. (Unfortunately.) "Look, Min'ko, look! I found a friend!"

"It's Minako!" I said automatically, glancing back to where I last saw Hinata. Gone. I bit my lip, feeling my heart constrict with dread.

Then my mind caught up with what Naruto was saying. "Wait, what?" I whirled around, my growing hair smacking Naruto in the face. He squawked. I ignored him, gaping at the kid beside him.

My first impression of Uchiha Sasuke was hair. It wasn't the duck-butt hairdo he'd been famous for in my old life. It looked soft, and fluffy, like chick down, and stuck out every which way. His eyes were big and round, and his cheeks just as chubby as Hinata's.

In short, he was _fucking adorable._

"I never said anything about being friends!" He crossed his arms and glared, trying for an angry expression but only coming across as a pout. I may or may not have wheezed like a dying balloon.

"We punched each other! Now we gotta be friends, dattebayo! It's the rules!" Naruto insisted. "My sister said so!" I slapped my hands over my face in lieu of more dying noises. I really, really needed to watch what I told Naruto. Gratitious pop culture references out of sheer loneliness and insanity did _not _justify corrupting a little kid's mind beyond repair. I knew children were impressionable, but _sheesh._

"It was a joke," I said weakly. Of course, according to all rules of Fictional Male Rival Bickery, I was ignored.

"Your sister is weird," Sasuke retorted. That only incensed Naruto.

"Hey! Don't talk about my sister like that, -ttebayo!"

"I am right here," I said louder, raising my eyes to the sky. Was this fate? Or was Canon mocking me? Naruto and Sasuke, meeting on the first day of school? Next thing you know, I was going to turn around and bump into _Itachi._

Despite his obvious irritation, however, Sasuke didn't look _truly _angry. More of bewildered and annoyed. And no matter how loud Naruto yelled on my behalf, I had never seen him look so… happy. This was probably the longest conversation he'd ever had with someone without them walking away. It didn't matter if it was more of a fight than a conversation, really. He was talking to someone, and _they were talking back._

There's a lump in my throat. I couldn't say a thing.

"Sasuke? Sasuke," a woman called, her voice breaking through the bickering faster than a kunai through cheese. Sasuke's face brightened, abandoning his conversation without a second thought.

"Okaa-sama!" he cheered, whirling around. I saw Naruto's face break into an expression of dismay, though he quickly hid it with a pout. I jumped, my hand jerking out to grab Naruto — why? To yank him away? To hide him? As if shielding him would preserve the happiness I saw on his face mere moments ago?

It was too late, anyway. The woman — Sasuke's mother — smiled at seeing her son. Then she saw us.

Her face paled. Her eyes widened. Her lips thinned.

She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

This time, I really did grab Naruto. "Come on, Naruto," I snapped, feeling my cheeks flare up. "We're going home."

It was that feeling again. That sinking sensation in my stomach, with the rush of air from my lungs like being punched from the gut; familiar, so, saddeningly familiar. Four years of growing awareness to the clear cognition I had now, and the one emotion I knew like the back of my hand was this.

Hurt.

I didn't want to stay long enough to see how else that woman would react to us. I whirled around and started dragging Naruto away.

"But-" He glanced over his shoulder. It said a lot about how he felt at that moment that he didn't even try to resist. And that hurt even worse. I was an adult, even if it was just in my head. I could handle people glaring me down, no problem. I'd heal. But Naruto was just a kid. And no matter what anyone said, he didn't deserve anything like this. The thought that hurt was as familiar to him now as it was to me…

I resisted the urge to strangle anything that would make his smile falter.

"Wait-!" I heard Sasuke call, but we were already shoving our way through the quickly-parting crowd. The rest of his sentence was lost to the murmurs and hisses of the adults come to pick up their children.

* * *

A/N: Of _course _my motivation to write hits that crucial week before finals. _Of fucking course. _

There was supposed to be a chapter before this that I was having difficulty writing, but then I realized that I could just move that chapter somewhere else, so I worked on finishing this already-half-written chapter. Also, recently I've been itching with ideas on a non-canon crossover with Dreaming of Sunshine (since Silver Queen is being so _nice _about recursive fanfiction), except I can't do that because it would happen in the far future of RWTBD, which means spoilers. If only "itching with ideas" didn't literally _mean _itching. I need that mental processing space for my majors, you know! D:

Check out my tumblr at fleeting-white-feathers!

Ps. Tell me if Minako's getting to wangsty. I need to know. :P


	7. VII

It was taking all of Mikoto's effort not to let her Sharingan activate.

Mikoto stood in the hallway outside the Hokage's office, her back ramrod-straight and her face frozen in a cool, Uchiha facade. Chuunin carrying varying stacks of papers did double-takes as they passed by. A few narrowed their eyes in distaste. None stayed long after she turned her freezing gaze on them.

The Uchiha had always been associated with fire. It burned in their hearts, sang in their veins, and blazed out of their throats to sear their enemies into ashes. The thought of an Uchiha in a rage always brought with it images of the red burning in their spinning eyes and the red that burned at a snap of their fingertips. But Mikoto had always burned cold.

She had brought Sasuke home first. He was a smart child, not like Itachi (there was no one like Itachi), but perceptive all the same. He had been very subdued on their way back, walking obediently by her side as he tried to sneak peeks at her face. It saddened her, a bit, that his first day at the Academy had to end so unhappily, but the ghosts of her past were too busy haunting her for her to muster enough willpower to do something about it. Luckily for the both of them, Itachi had managed to arrive home in time today. Sasuke had brightened immediately, and with a joyful crow had launched himself at his aniki, spirits and babbling renewed. Mikoto left them to it, with an admonishment to take care of each other and prepare their own dinner. She was not sure what time she was coming home today.

She saw Itachi look after her as she left, worry clear in the small tightening of his eyes. She ignored him. She did not need his or her husband's coddling today. She took a deep breath of the cool autumn air, then let it out, leeching the tenseness from her shoulders and centering herself. Today was not an issue for the Uchiha clan. Today was an issue for Mikoto alone.

The door to the Hokage's office opened. Her stance did not waver, and to an ordinary observer she did not react at all. But inside Mikoto, her fire _burned._

Nara Shikaku met her eyes as he exited the office. He nodded to her in a short greeting. She returned the motion, tilting her head forward slightly, her face serene. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, and left in his customary slouch.

"Enter," said a voice, old and low but nowhere near frail yet. She steeled herself and stepped forward, her strides petite in her kimono but filled with all the power of a shinobi. She entered the room.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had not changed since the last time she saw him. It's been years since she had to venture outside the Uchiha compound, and years more since she had to report in this very office. He had liver spots now, scattered across his face like puddles on a spring morning. His wrinkles were even more deeply set, his veins standing out from his skin. But the piercing brown eyes remained the same, pinning her to the spot the way it did even when she was just a genin.

"Mikoto-san," he said, his voice rumbling in his throat. Neither smoking nor age had thinned his voice at all. "This is a surprise."

She had run a lot of scenarios in her head, practiced what she would say here. She knew that she had to stay calm, had to stay polite and avoid any chance of lowering the Uchiha further in the old man's eyes.

"You told me they were dead."

That… was not in her script.

Oops.

Sandaime's eyes narrowed. She didn't miss the sharpness in his gaze, or the minute way he straightened in his seat at the accusation.

He knew what she was talking about.

He _knew-!_

"You told me _they were dead._" Her voice didn't rise; rather, it fell, lowering just shy of a growl. She could feel her chakra rising in contrast, her agitation pushing at the tenketsu behind her eyes. She pushed it back as much as she was able, drawing on all the techniques and years of experience she had dealing with the crabby, ambitious elder council of the Uchiha and any other adult who dared to believe they could tell her how to do her job as wife and Uchiha matriarch. She could _not _let her Sharingan activate. (But oh, how she _wanted _to.)

"I assure you, Mikoto-san, any and all Uchiha deaths are reported to your husband-" he began. Her fury only rose further.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid!" she snapped.

"_Do not speak to me with that tone._"

Killing Intent slammed down on her. Now all her effort was simply focused on keeping her back straight, and her face impassive. Her chakra flared, fighting back the pressure that sought to bring her down. She would _not _bow to this man! Not now, and not like this! She raised her head from the respectful tilt that kept her gaze on his chest and looked at the Hokage in the eye. She knew her Sharingan had finally activated out of sheer stress, and knew she could be executed for this, but she kept her chin up and her head held high. She had been a shinobi once. She may be no match for the Hokage, but neither was she just a lowly housewife to be pushed aside!

And just like that, the Killing Intent stopped, as suddenly as a kunai yanked out of a tree. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips, or the way her body shuddered in relief. A tear slipped down her face, but she didn't raise a hand to wipe it away. She kept her gaze on the Hokage's face.

He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing a hand over his face. He looked older, all of a sudden, the strength and power he emanated before receding. Where the Hokage sat, Mikoto now saw an old man, working past any respectable age and thankless in the job. "Mikoto-san," he said at last. "We accomplish nothing with this." He dropped his hand and gazed back, his eyes still sharp but older than she had ever seen. "I assume you are talking about Uzumaki Naruto and Minako?"

Mikoto inhaled, taking in the names and engraving them in her heart. Naruto and Minako. She breathed out. Those were the names Minato and Kushina had chosen for their children.

_Kushina._

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered. "You let me think they had died with their mother! I could have taken care of them! I could have taken them in!"

"You cannot," he said, tired but sure. "Stop for a moment and think, Mikoto-san." He straightened, placing his withered hands on the table. "You are the matriarch of the Uchiha clan. Tensions are already high between the village and your clan. If the other clans heard of you taking in the vessel of the Kyuubi, there would be a riot."

Incensed, she stepped forward. "I'm their godmother! I have every right to take care of them!"

"It does not matter. No matter who took them in or whatever right that person had to them, any clan that takes those children in would cause the others to rise up and rebel. The power imbalance would be too great." The Hokage laced his fingers together. "They are safer where they are."

"Safer? Where? With whom?" The Hokage's lips thinned. He said nothing. Mikoto had to fight the urge to laugh. "Do you mean the apartment they stay in? Are you talking about the chuunin that mans the desk?"

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. Killing Intent rose again in the room, softer, quieter, like the low roar in your ears that could easily rise up and drown you. "Is that a threat?" His voice rumbled, almost mild with the anger that filled it.

Mikoto did laugh then, a short, breathless chuckle of disbelief. A threat? Just how far gone was the Hokage's trust in her clan? Far enough to suspect the care a mother would have for her best friend's children? To completely ignore it? "Have you even seen them recently?"

She hadn't even had to pick up her rudimentary tracking skills once more. It was easy enough to pretend to be a civilian Uchiha woman and ask around for the twins. People were always eager to gossip, whether they were shinobi or civilian. Several in particular took care to tell her in the vaguest terms possible to avoid the children, circumventing the Law of Silence in the easiest and most damaging way possible.

"Have you even seen how the civilians treat them?"

She managed to catch up to the twins, and watched from a distance as they struggled to find a place to eat dinner. Streets she would usually have trouble passing through suddenly cleared. Shop doors slammed closed. She listened to every false apology the manager spouted as they blocked the way into their stores.

"Restaurants refuse them entry. Parents pull away their children. When they walk through a street, the crowd parts around them."

She had watched as Minako fought to keep Naruto smiling even as she struggled to keep her own smile in place. What had been a happy day ended badly as they made do with yakitori from a food stall that didn't have the luxury of sending them away.

"You didn't leave them with anyone, Hokage-sama."

She remembered the way Minako had looked at her, and the way she had glared at those who dodged back as they passed by.

"_You left them alone_."

The Sandaime set his wrinkled brown gaze on her. "I _hid _them, Mikoto-san." His expression was unreadable, his face shadowed by the symbol of his office. Smoke curled from the mouth of his pipe, rising until it hung like a cloud above him, then dispersed. "Because I have hidden their identity, I have saved them from the manipulations that comes with being in a clan. They are free of outside influence, and from the politics of the village. They will grow strong and learn independence and survival. I'm keeping them _safe._"

"You're _losing _them, Hokage-sama." She spread her hands, like an invitation, or a challenge. "They are independent. They are strong. But _they are alone. _The villagers hate them. The children are told to avoid them. They barely even know how to take care of themselves!"

So thin. So frail. Naruto's shorts were too small. Minako's shirt was too big. The colors were faded, or stained. They looked ready to be knocked over by a breeze, or carried away like a kite.

It just made their eyes stand out all the brighter.

"Do you know how Minako looked at me when I first saw her?" Mikoto asked the old man seated in front of her. "She looked at me with anger, and suspicion. And I had done nothing except to stare."

Mikoto had taken one look at the red hair and known. Her breath had caught in her throat, her body frozen in place. How could she forget such blazing color? Not after the foreign Uzushio girl had managed to drag her into a clawing, hair-pulling, honest-to-goodness catfight that should have been below any Uchiha. Not after growing into a full-blown rivalry that both of them refused to admit to, from their Academy days until they made chuunin. Not after a trembling, fidgeting, scared teenage girl accosted her one afternoon, in the midst of a war, and begged her for help on what to wear to her first date.

Not after they promised to take care of the other's children, if one of them never returned from a mission.

"This isn't about politics. It's about two children in desperate need of care. But if it helps, Hokage-sama, think of it like this: At the rate things are going, there is nothing that will keep your jinchuuriki loyal to the village."

Silence fell in the Hokage's office. The Hokage said nothing, just staring at Mikoto. She had no idea what he was thinking. His eyes were perfectly impassive. Well, two can play at that game. She smoothed her expression into porcelein, blank as a fragile doll. If there were two spots of color on her cheeks, then it just made her look even colder, like a painter had taken two dabs of a red brush in a desperate attempt to keep her from looking lifeless. Her anger was iron behind her obsidian eyes.

The Hokage spoke. "That wasn't the argument your husband gave me when I told him of the plan."

And just like that, her anger shattered. More effective than ice water on molten steel, the old man ripped the floor from under her with just one sentence. She had to hand it to him, even as her knees locked together to keep her upright. He could not have chosen a better way to kick her to the ground.

There was no denying his words. She could neither deny that Fugaku knew nor that he would not keep something like this from her. He probably did. And he already does.

Any trace of color in her face was gone. She didn't bother with questions, protests, arguments. She bowed, her waist bending at the exact height appropriate for the Hokage, and no more. "By your leave, Hokage-sama," she said, her voice hard. She didn't wait for his permission, but left the room, her geta on the wooden floor the only sound left behind.

If she saw the sorrow in the Hokage's eyes, it was buried under the anger and shame bringing the color back to her face full force.

By the time she got home, Itachi was busy trying to enforce Sasuke's bedtime and the dishes they used were neatly stacked by the sink. She didn't pause, leaving her shoes at the genkan and heading straight to the kitchen. Soon the house was filled with the sound of a knife cutting through vegetables. It was a far cry from the satisfying thunk of metal through wood, and the feel of shuriken leaping from her fingertips in a perfect arc towards the target she marked out herself. It was too late for the Uchiha matriarch to be training. Besides, even if she went out to train she was too angry, and her cold fury thunk-thunking against the wooden posts for all to hear would be unseemly.

Unseemly. The word echoed around her head, jarring against the confines of her mind. Her kimono felt suffocating, the stiff collar flat on her shoulders and brushing the back of her neck like a threat. Her wrists were free but her ankles were not. The obi felt like a chain, not a support.

Any Uchiha woman who activated the Sharingan were forced to retire early. There was truly no retiring from the life of a shinobi, of course, barring loss of life or limb, but they stopped taking missions and were only called to action during emergencies. The Uchiha bloodline primarily ran through the males, so the women who had it were all the more precious, along with the children they would bear. They were not allowed to venture into the deadly battlefield or stay there long, leaving that to the men. Mikoto herself had been lucky; the elders had allowed her to rise as high as tokubetsu jounin. She was the clan head's bride to be. To marry a chuunin or lower would behoove the representative of the clan, and therefore the clan itself.

Thunk, thunk. Thunk.

"You're up late." Startled, she jerked, almost stabbing the hapless carrot in a wonky half. Mikoto turned around, coming face to face with her husband. The shadows lurking beyond the light of the kitchen draped themselves over his face. He looked as stern as the picture on the wall of the Police Headquarters, a picture she had seen less than the amount of fingers she had in one hand. There was a slight pinch to his wrinkled eyes, shadowed with exhaustion. Had he always been like this? Her mind presented her with the image of a smooth-faced man, stern, yes, but with a small smile hidden for the times the elders were not looking his way. It felt faded, distant, almost as if it was a figment of her imagination. Fugaku shifted, stepping further into the light, and the lines on his face softened with the illumination, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"Welcome home," Mikoto said, a slight stammer to her voice. Sloppy. _Sloppy. _Four years, five years ago, she would have known Fugaku was home before he set one foot in the house and said 'tadaima'.

As though reading her mind, his lip quirks up slightly. "Did you not hear me call?" he asked.

Kushina had never understood why she put up with Fugaku, and looked at their arranged marriage with the expression she reserved for nonbelievers (i.e. people who were not overly fond of ramen but did not particularly hate it either). But then again, Kushina had never been able to read nor had the opportunity to see her husband's microexpressions. It warmed her somewhat, knowing it was quite possible she was the only one who had.

She shook her head, her hands twitching towards her bound sleeves, then falling back to her sides. "Forgive me. I was preoccupied."

His little smile fell. "Does this have to do with your impromptu visit to the Hokage?"

Her head snapped up — an instinctive reaction. She did not feel surprised. There was only a small flat rock resting in the bottom of her stomach, bitter and heavy. Of course he knew. The Uchiha were far nosier than their far-sighted cousins, though the red-eyed clan would accuse them of the fact. They were the police, after all. It was their job. They were trained for it, even. And he was the head of them all.

"I saw Kushina's children," she whispered. Fugaku twitched, his eyebrows rising then drawing together in a frown. No more dancing around the subject. They were beyond that, here.

At least, she had thought so.

"What did the Hokage tell you?" No denial. No surprise. Was this an interrogation? The walls were closing in on Mikoto again. She thought the walk from the Tower would remove the feeling. Now it came roaring back. She clasped her elbows, trying to keep herself together.

"He told me you knew."

The crickets were not very active this time of the year. Mikoto found herself listening for the sound, anything to fill the silence that seemed to last longer than a heartbeat.

Fugaku took her hands, his hands hot around her cold fingers. She realized, all of a sudden, that she felt cold, despite the thickness of her kimono. She did not curl her fingers around his.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would worry." His voice was low and dark, like oil dripping onto her skin. It used to warm her, in the morning and in the night. Now she could only close her eyes. "The Hokage took them away, would not even let me see them. Despite the fact that we had the right, no, the duty to take care of them, he would not hand them over. He didn't want them to be under any clan's influence."

She wanted to scream. She wanted to rail against him, to throw her fists against his chest and say, _we could have done something, we could have left them with a civilian, we could have watched over them!_

_I am not a weak-willed housewife!_

But she could only close her eyes.

He laughed, low, mocking. Angry. She almost missed what he said next. "I should have known it would be the start of Konoha's ungratefulness to the clan."

"What?" Her eyes snapped open. This was the first she heard of this. "Ungratefulness?" She looked up at her husband, her eyes wide. She could see him withdrawing again, that warm gentleness in his crow's feet smoothening into honed steel. She held on to his hands, holding tight, keeping him from pulling away, figuratively and literally. "What are you talking about? What ungratefulness?"

"It's none of your concern." He unraveled her fingers from his. She was no longer caged, she was in a space. The kitchen yawned around her, the small step her husband takes back feeling like a canyon at their feet. What else didn't she know? What else were they keeping from her?

What else did she leave behind when she put her hitai-ate away?

"Fugaku, _please._" Not husband, not beloved. Fugaku.

He stopped.

"I need to know. I'm a-" _Shinobi. _"-an Uchiha too." She raised her head, chin held high.

She may not longer be a shinobi in all but name, but she was still an Uchiha. They owed fealty to the village, but they had been around before Konoha was born, had helped built the village that housed them now, and would continue after the walls crumbled and fell. They had sworn to serve the village above all else, even the clan, but with the Hokage's attitude earlier, it felt more and more like putting the clan before the village was the right action to take.

Fugaku looked at her, dark eyes to dark eyes. He nodded.

"The Hokage denying our right to the children was only the first in the list of the many grievances we would soon be receiving. Less and less Uchiha are being sent out on missions, or being promoted. More are being relegated to the Police Force, when we have more than enough people there already." He reached up to rub one side of his nose. It was a rare show of weakness, one he only allowed himself around Mikoto.

She felt her dread return, heavier on her shoulders than before. "Have you spoken with the Hokage about this?" The moment the words left her lips, she shook her head, realizing how meaningless they were. Of course he had. "Surely the council would have something to say on this," she said instead.

Fugaku exhaled, a strong, soundless huff that expressed his frustration more than the stress lines on his face. "When I try to speak in the clan meetings, I am constantly rebuffed or ignored." He dropped his hand and shook his head as well. "We are alone in this." He hesitated, then spoke lower, in a whisper only for her. "I fear the village is turning against us," he confessed.

Mikoto's eyes widened. Wordlessly, she took his hands, a reverse of the comfort he tried to give her earlier. Fugaku's eyes flickered to meet hers. His lips twitched, the smallest of smiles in gratitude. He covered her smaller hand with his, enveloping their joined hands.

"The civilians grow fearful, and our comrades watch us with jealousy or distrust. I…" He trailed off. Even Fugaku had a limit to the confessions he could make.

Mikoto's heart went out to him. She brought up their joined hands and pressed her lips to his hand, soft and gentle. Fugaku loved the village, with the strength and passion only an Uchiha could have. But he loved the clan even more. Everything he did, he did to serve both, even if it meant losing time to spend with his own children. His wholehearted dedication to service was something he expected of everyone around him. It made him the leader everyone respected, both within the clan and outside it. And that expectation could not be seen more than his expectations of his genius son. He had given Itachi to the village he loved, to serve it and protect it.

Her thoughts turned once more to another child, this one with red hair and deep blue eyes. She thought of Kushina's children, living alone and left to fend for themselves by an old man pulled out of retirement and long, long past his prime. She could feel her anger grow again, that cold fire flickering to life in her womb and spreading throughout her body. She looked her husband in the eye, letting the red swirl of her bloodline speak for themselves.

"I stand with you," she said, her voice fierce as the fire in her gut. "Whatever happens, whatever you do, I stand with you." Her hands tightened on her husband's. "This kind of treatment is unacceptable. If the village cannot take care of their Hokage's children, what of the clan? What of its people? We can't let them continue like this."

Fugaku's eyes widened, then softened. He returned her grip, twining their fingers together and holding tight. "We'll find a way," he agreed, his own eyes burning red. He drew her into an embrace.

The next morning, Mikoto had to remake her sons' bentos from scratch. In the end, it turned out to be a good thing. She considered the two wrapped boxes before her. Her eyes narrowed. She nodded resolutely, and brought out two more.

* * *

A/N:

Wow, it took me less than half a year this time. Whoopee? :P During the periods of writing throughout those months, half of them were spent cursing out Uchiha Sasuke and all his relatives. Mikoto felt too dramatic. Itachi would not leave Wangst Land, the lil shit. I pretty much vowed I wouldn't write another Uchiha POV outside of Sasuke's after this. Then I remembered I had at least one other chapter planned for Itachi. Argh.

For some reason, I always get the best motivation to update during finals week. I need to break this annoying habit. Thank you to everyone who reviewed while I was "gone", as well as those who followed and faved and essentially let me know that people were still reading this thing and still want to know what happens next. You guys are the best motivation.

Hopefully next chapter is soon. If not, look forward to a new story I've had sitting on the backburn. Hee hee. I have quite a bit of backlog already (more than the backlog I had when this started) and I'm just trying to reach a certain point before I start uploading. Hint: it's set in Bleach.

Have a great day everyone! Wish me luck in the finals _I'm supposed to be studying for. _Reviews very much accepted. I'm still beta-less, so I'm using those as a substitute. Find something you don't like? _Tell me! _I won't bite your head off, promise. I like those best. I won't know what to improve if you don't tell me lol.


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